Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Board meeting gets scheduled Nobody thinks too much about it until a week or two before Management team has a last-minute scramble to pull materials together Management is super focused on its daily work of … winning customers, signing biz dev, shipping product … so this prep is a last minute “fire drill” and is seen as a slight distraction.

Stock Options 226

Stock Options Metrics Stock Valuation 226

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

These periods of time can leave a founder very vulnerable in the future. Assuming normal valuations at fund raising rounds you’ll be down to 6-12% after you’ve created a stock-option pool and raised capital. But these people seldom make retirement money from the stock options on these companies.

Founder Vesting 365

Founder Vesting Intellectual Property Stock Options IP 365

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2016

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

Another example is Facebook , maintaining motivation with food, stock options, collaborative office space, an on-site laundry, and a competitive atmosphere that fosters personal growth and learning with great benefits. As a startup founder or executive, you need to subvert your own troubles for the sake of the team. Start today.

Stock Options 362

Stock Options Salary Leadership Stock 362

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

But the thing I am most proud of about Rob is that he has taken a company with a uniquely talented founder & CTO – Nick Halstead – and managed to build a very tight working relationship with Nick where we drive world-class product development without having the usual founder / CEO conflicts. More information comes out.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

” He explains: Either the founders failed to achieve their goal, or – far likelier – they failed to dream big enough. The proper ambition for a tech entrepreneur should be to join the ranks of the great tech companies, or, at least, to create a profitable, independent company beloved by employees, customers, and shareholders.

Acquisition 120

Acquisition Technical Review Stock Options Employee 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-Founders to help you? The co-Founder relationship dilemma.

Founder 245

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 245

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

There is no better way to feel the pressures and unknowns, as well as the excitement, of a startup than to work in one as an employee, and realize that the highs and lows are even greater for the founder. Founders stock and stock options are worth nothing for the first few years.

Silicon Valley 315

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Stock Options Flash 315

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2020

Another example is Facebook , maintaining motivation with food, stock options, collaborative office space, an on-site laundry, and a competitive atmosphere that fosters personal growth and learning with great benefits. As a startup founder or executive, you need to subvert your own troubles for the sake of the team. Start today.

Product 322

Product Stock Options Salary Leadership 322

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

People buy companies for 3 primary reasons: 1) they want the management team / talent 2) they want the technology or 3) they want the market traction (revenue, customer base, profits, etc). Mark Jeffrey - Q: “Is it more traditional to do your ESOP (employee stock option plan) before or after your angel or Series A funding?&#

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. He’d wasted a year of his life and had a pile of stock options that weren’t very interesting. You could just outspend.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

The Next Web

MARCH 11, 2014

Even its founders couldn’t quite describe it, let alone foresee what it would become. For the past year, they invested in the team and technology to prioritize speed of iteration with disregard to traditional methods of customer development and company building. The founders lacked the positive signals investors typically look for.

Silicon Valley 151

Silicon Valley Cofounder Stock Options Mobile 151

The Next Web

OCTOBER 25, 2013

Aside from needing to be conveniently located for your employees to get to (and potential clients to visit for meetings), Ori Goshen, co-founder and vice president of research and development at Tawkon , says staying close to good bars and restaurant options also give employees a sense of life outside the work space.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Design Product Startup 167

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The co-founder relationship dilemma.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense of possibility that comes from having an idea that hasn’t yet been beat up in the marketplace of competing ideas, customer contracts, VC skepticism, jaded journalists or fickle consumers who are on the The New, New Thing. I have written about the next phases many times.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2009

We hadn’t even thought about having a customer support line or who would staff it. Our customers were generally happy but they were pushing us hard for promised features. We kept reading about their customer wins, their product releases and their biz dev deals. Let your compass be based on your customers.

PR 331

PR Software Review Ireland Germany 331

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As a founder, ask yourself – does your business actually warrant VC funding?

Early Stage 110

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 110

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 26, 2020

The early days of a business’ journey require the founders to pour their energy into focusing on getting their product or service perfected and out to customers in the marketplace. If your startup business has more than one founder, a Partnership Agreement, which is an operating agreement, is essential. Partnership Agreements.

Intellectual Property 149

Intellectual Property Startup SEC Stock Options 149

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

Even when you do sign-up initial customers it’s still not clear that your company will be a success and you’re still likely paying yourself under market rates. The narrative of this discussion is something like this: I meet a 35-40-year-old founder with two kids and mortgage. ” (Warren Buffett).

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 10, 2020

These are really good founders and I think this is an interesting space.” Further, when additional people kept mentioning Airbnb to me and praising the founders, I should have asked myself how a smart, capable person would refine the idea.). Those two minutes showed me that Airbnb’s founders wanted to play in the big leagues.

Hosting 69

Hosting Hockey Stick IPO Silicon Valley 69

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Your role as a founder who brings on board members should be to understand the importance of the team dynamic and try to foster better human relationships so that in the future when you need people to work together for a common purpose a trust and rapport has been formed. The founders of a company are fighting.

LP 269

LP Startup Burn Rate Stock Options 269

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-Founders to help you? The co-Founder relationship dilemma.

Hockey Stick 268

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

This 4-part story, however, explores the Austin ecosystem based on the 4Cs framework —  culture , capital, customers , and competencies. Tim O’Reilly, Founder at O’Reilly Media and promoter of open source and Web 2.0 Let’s have a look at what early stage founders can expect in terms of oxygen.

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Texas 48

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Before you even get the business off the ground, it’s important to ensure that you and the co-founders (if any) agree on everything. Every startup should have a written founder agreement, which should include the following points: The roles and responsibilities of each member. Stock Option documentation.

LLC 168

LLC Startup Stock Options Cofounder 168

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Christian Reber, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based 6Wunderkinder. I think an issue many talented entrepreneurs and European founders (especially German founders) have is, they don’t think big enough. Many founders don’t deal well with people leaving, but I am probably one of the worst.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Type to Add and Search Questions; Search Topics and People Startups Startup Compensation Entrepreneurship Compensation Stock Options Major Internet Companies Silicon Valley Why is there such a large founder to early employee equity drop-off? Many startups these days are first-time entrepreneurs.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2013

If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. These are the questions that get past the hype of a founder “vision to change the world,” and into the realm of real business strengths, weaknesses, and current health.

Due Diligence 253

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Burn Rate 253

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The co-founder relationship dilemma.

Hockey Stick 144

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

Small Business and Startups: Customer Service Marketing Manifesto – crowdspring.co/1wYokDi. 10 Ways to Make Your Relationship With Your Co-Founder A Success – crowdspring.co/1sSi21Y. Startup Equity and Stock Options: What’s It Worth to You? Freelancing 101: When to Say ‘No’ | Design Shack – crowdspring.co/1zbCFi3.

Social Media 99

Social Media Small Business Design Media 99

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2021

The great managerial guru, Peter Drucker, liked to say that the purpose of a business is to keep and create a customer. You have to have a clear and powerful value proposition in order to attract and keep customers and your startup business structure needs to reflect that. Growth without profits destroys shareholder value.

Limited Liability Company 163

Limited Liability Company Silicon Valley Business Model Stock Options 163

Start Up Blog

JUNE 9, 2016

If there is anything startup founders should remember it is why it’s worth doing at all. In that case you may as well have the certainty of money that goes with stock options and employment. If you want to be answerable to anyone other than your customers that is. Startups are hard, and rarely a path to riches.

Founder 48

Founder Stock Options Startup Valuation 48

Start Up Blog

JUNE 9, 2016

If there is anything startup founders should remember it is why it’s worth doing at all. In that case you may as well have the certainty of money that goes with stock options and employment. If you want to be answerable to anyone other than your customers that is. Startups are hard, and rarely a path to riches.

Founder 48

Founder Stock Options Startup Valuation 48

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2012

If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. These are the questions that get past the hype of a founder “vision to change the world,” and into the realm of real business strengths, weaknesses, and current health.

Due Diligence 244

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate Intellectual Property 244

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. These are the questions that get past the hype of a founder “vision to change the world,” and into the realm of real business strengths, weaknesses, and current health.

Due Diligence 237

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Entrepreneur 237

www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

Stock Options Stock Options are weighted heavily to compensate the people who take the most risk, namely, the people who join Fog Creek when its just a wee tiny company and were all jammed into one tiny office and we cant afford to buy your kids braces and sometimes you have to change the Poland Spring yourself.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2015

I often speak about co-founder fighting and how this ends in lawsuits but this has become much more prevalent. I’d encourage you to watch this quick 3-minute video with some views on what I call “ The Co-Founder Mythology ” that is perpetuated in Silicon Valley. Lawsuits are particularly common amongst co-founders.

Vesting 150

Vesting Cofounder IP Stock Options 150