Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Perhaps they're way off in their valuation (usually far too high), or paralyzed by fear at seeing the other terms, because they have no idea what's normal, and what's worth a fight to the death (their startup's). In very early startups, which have no valuation, the term sheet may specify a convertible note.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Demand Preferred Stock Liquidation Preference 120

The Startup Lawyer

JUNE 9, 2010

A startup’s Series A financing shouldn’t be a large liquidity event or salary payday for the startup’s founders. While a startup typically receives millions of dollars in a Series A, if too much of that $$$ flows guaranteed to the founders, various incentives get out of whack. Case Study.

Salary 99

Salary Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Liquidity Event 99

The Equity Kicker

DECEMBER 30, 2013

In this case the investment is largely in the form of time committed to the startup, and hence the downside is the time lost to other opportunities. but she will most likely now be sitting behind a $25m liquidation preference and have taken on new investors who want to exit the company for at least $240m (to get 3x on their investment).

Finance 129

Finance Liquidation Preference Valuation Harvest 129

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

” “Mark has a vested interest in talking down valuations of startups.” Most prefer not to say this publicly for two reasons: 1) they have an entire portfolio of startups, many of whom are raising capital and 2) they prefer not to be attacked publicly or seem “anti entrepreneur.” What hogwash.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

Altgate

DECEMBER 18, 2008

@altgate Startups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between Skip to content Home Furqan Nazeeri (fn@altgate.com) ← Holiday Cards Year End Management Changes → The 3X Liquidation Preference Is Back! Let’s recap how expensive a 3x liquidation preference really is. Bookmark the permalink.

Liquidation Preference 31

Liquidation Preference Venture Capital Post-Money Valuation Participating Preferred 31

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

In February of last year, Fortune magazine writers Erin Griffith and Dan Primack declared 2015 “ The Age of the Unicorns ” noting — “Fortune counts more than 80 startups that have been valued at $1 billion or more by venture capitalists.” Next came Rolfe Winkler’s deep dive “ Highly Valued Startup Zenefits Runs Into Turbulence. ”

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Let’s say you’re the founder (I use a solo-founder in my example to keep things simple, but this could just as well apply to a founding team) of a startup called Blood, Sweat and Tears, Inc. They want to keep the founders “all-in” in the startup, because they feel that otherwise the founders won’t be motivated enough.

Founder 87

Founder Common Stock Preferred Stock Stock 87

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Let’s say you’re the founder (I use a solo-founder in my example to keep things simple, but this could just as well apply to a founding team) of a startup called Blood, Sweat and Tears, Inc. They want to keep the founders “all-in” in the startup, because they feel that otherwise the founders won’t be motivated enough.

Founder 84

Founder Common Stock Preferred Stock Stock 84

Scott Edward Walker

JULY 27, 2011

There are, however, certain formal procedural requirements that the stockholder must comply with, including making a written demand upon the corporation, “under oath” and stating a “proper purpose.” The board can either accept or reject the demand. Moreover, there are certain tricky evidentiary issues.

Delaware 49

Delaware Liquidation Preference Redemption Los Angeles 49

Spencer Fry

APRIL 17, 2017

As a startup in 2017, having limited resources can in and of itself sink your entire ship. What I worry about is the demand on every one of your potential customer’s attention and time. There are so many people, products, and startups that are vying for their attention, that it’s harder than ever to rise above the noise.

Bootstrapping 63

Bootstrapping Cap Table Liquidation Preference Cofounder 63

ithacaVC

APRIL 25, 2012

That demand will accelerate the relationship building and the valuation discussion. In my view, starting off a VC relationship by diving into perhaps the most critical economic term is kind of like, well, moving too fast on a first date. The exception is when you have a ton of interest (the VCs are just crawling over you).

Valuation 49

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Preferred Stock 49

Professor VC

JULY 25, 2013

In investment parlance, it strictly means that new classes of stock have equal rights with prior classes in terms of liquidation preference, voting rights, etc. Startup outcomes tend to be very binary. Their response was that we should be happy they didn''t ask for a participating preference on top of the seniority.

Term Sheet 46

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Syndication Syndicate 46

Up and Running

MARCH 29, 2017

million for the SaaS startup I founded because sometimes we see success coming out of the blue, when really that person benefited from a broad network of support. If you want to run a startup, go with what you know. See Also: Demand Validation: How to Find Out If Customers Want to Buy Your Product. Find your own magic.

Term Sheet 60

Term Sheet Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation 60