Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment. One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In fact, the cost may be minimal, if you do your networking and build a relationship with an experienced business executive or two in your domain who are willing to share and give back for a nominal retainer, perhaps one percent of your new startup equity. The cost of a co-founder is usually fifty percent of your equity.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2020

The loss of these major customers can have a dramatic impact on both internal (employees) and external contributors (investors). If the company has employees, by implicating the entire team, each member can obtain a clear view of the process and contribute to future fixes and enhancements.

Customer 347

Customer Development Team Review Advisory Board Private Equity 347

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold. For aspiring new entrepreneurs of any age, this is an opportunity for a win-win situation, with the proper mix of Boomers with Gen-X and Gen-Y employees and executives. Member of the Advisory Board.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

In addition to the one in Beijing, China has set up 53 additional industrial parks and in them are ~60,000 companies with 8 million employees. Set up in 1999, Innofund offers grants ($150 – $250K), loan interest subsidies and equity investment. (This was the area I visited in this trip to China.)

Programming 287

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 287

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

He has grown our US operations from 1 employee (him) to a global organization of 75 employees that will finish the year with 8-digit revenues (90+% recurring) and more than 350% year-over-year growth. You may know how much to pay in cash or equity for your new VP Engineering. He is very pleasant when he calls and writes.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

Yet, according to many sources , over 90 percent of all businesses are started and grown with no equity financing, and many others would have been better off without it. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Of course, every company needs these, in due time.

Bootstrapping 252

Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Technical Review 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold. For aspiring new entrepreneurs of any age, this is an opportunity for a win-win situation, with the proper mix of Boomers with Gen-X and Gen-Y employees and executives. Member of the Advisory Board.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

Favor has donated over $32,000 in scholarship awards to ensure Dream Corps TECH Members and Cohort Alumni, within the state of Texas, will be able to seek higher education opportunities with a focus on technology degrees (undergraduate and/or graduate) as well as professionals seeking professional certifications as a full-time employee.

Technical Review 93

Technical Review Texas Equity Programming 93

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

How to Hunt Programmers Finding a Technical Cofounder Startups and a Common Misunderstanding in Agile Software Development Choosing a Programming Language and Framework for Your Startup Symptoms of a Weak Development Team Poor Software Developers - Pull the Plug Early Some additional posts that may be of value: 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot (..)

Technical Cofounder 280

Technical Cofounder Developer Fractional CTO CTO Hire 280

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

But not anal if one founder who shares equity graciously with early employees who are treated as “co-founders” My idea startup team is heaving on tech personnel but also has strong product management. I don’t think VCs care as much about co-founders & economics as people think.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

Hearpreneur

MAY 24, 2023

Employees are the backbone of any organization, and their expectations from their employers can have a significant impact on their job satisfaction and overall productivity. To do this, companies need to understand what employees expect from them. To do this, companies need to understand what employees expect from them.

Employee 127

Employee Entrepreneur Security Technical Review 127

Board Effect

DECEMBER 29, 2021

We’ll review the challenges with pay equity and offer ways your board can improve it. Racial Equity in Nonprofit Compensation . Racial equity has been an issue in business, society, and nonprofits. Ultimately to achieve pay equity, nonprofits must also achieve racial equity. Nonprofit Salary Transparency .

Equity 105

Equity Salary Software Review Iowa 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold. For aspiring new entrepreneurs of any age, this is an opportunity for a win-win situation, with the proper mix of Boomers with Gen-X and Gen-Y employees and executives. Member of the Advisory Board.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor 266

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2022

You need to do the due diligence to make that decision before you sign away your equity. In today’s economy, with more and more employees working remotely , assessing trust may seem especially difficult. We all understand that partners, employees, and customers are people with emotions, rather than machines.

Technical Review 313

Technical Review Due Diligence Partner Cofounder 313

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 10, 2011

You find early stage employees expecting to work normal hours, to get paid a regular salary, and not asking or expecting equity. And what’s great for the mass of society – a government safety net verging on the ultimate nanny state – makes it impossible to fail. There isn’t much of a killer instinct among the masses.

Finland 332

Finland Naming Russia Government 332

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

when is the right time to hire your first sales employee? But the ground we covered was awesome for anybody wanting to know more about sales. When & Whom should you hire? junior vs. senior? brains vs. relationship? how can you evaluate a good sales person? how do you know one when you see them? How much to compensate them? when to call.

Software Review 300

Software Review Sales Due Diligence Startup 300

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

As a starting point the board is intended to have legal and financial responsibilities to a few key constituencies: shareholders, debt holders, creditors, employees, government and major parties with whom the business operates. Often we are asked to get involved in executive-level recruiting. ICOs certainly have a place in startup financing.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 24, 2020

From finding a qualified pool of applicants to interviewing, verifying references, and filing the hiring paperwork, just managing and recruiting employees is a full time job. That’s not to mention finding the right balance between too many and too few employees. Giving up too much investor equity.

Software Review 185

Software Review Startup Technical Review Hiring 185

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

They hire local employees or family. Unlike small business entrepreneurs, their interest is not in earning a living but rather in creating equity in a company that eventually will become publicly traded or acquired, generating a multi-million-dollar payoff. They are anyone who runs his/her own business. Most are barely profitable.

Government 335

Government Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 335

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 7, 2011

At Tekes, government employees (and their hired consultants) – with no equity, no risk or reward, no startup or venture capital experience – try to pick startup winners and losers. It’s hard enough to pick which existing companies with known business models to aid.

Finland 329

Finland Venture Capital Government Russia 329

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

The lack of team cohesion and respect for individuals has probably been one of the biggest weaknesses of Zynga – at least from nearly EVERY employee I’ve ever talked to who worked there. Equity for the future? What should the financial settlement be for the founder leaves be?

Founder 340

Founder Cofounder Sacramento Technical Review 340

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

Today, we have invested in over 100 high-growth companies, some of which have grown to be household names with thousands of employees making a huge impact in the everyday lives of everyday people. . From the beginnings of NextView, we have had a commitment to being high-conviction, hands-on, seed stage focused investors. A Final Note.

Operations 227

Operations Hiring Seed Stage Boston 227

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

A key deal not only helps you raise venture capital but it can help attract employees, garner press attention, help with product focus & importantly drive customer adoption and/or revenue. When you start a company in the Bay Area you can often get your first biz dev deal done with Google, Facebook, Salesforce.com, eBay, Yahoo!

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment. One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Sweat Equity 207

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 207

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

With its overnight success, the conspiracy theories about data being shared with China, coupled with an alleged hack of Deepseek, raised security concerns with the Pentagon, who immediately moved to block government employees from using it. This move signals that investors are still placing enormous bets on established AI leaders.

China 97

China Artificial Inteligence ChatGPT Generative AI 97

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

It provides the freedom to partner with entrepreneurs and reduce the costs of agency work in exchange for equity in their startup. This allows the studio to retain a larger stake in internally funded startups and gain equity in other startups through partnerships. Keep Employees Engaged When on The Bench.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

The Startup Magazine

MAY 2, 2023

As part of The Startup Magazine’s Female Founder Interview series , today we present Minué Yoshida, owner of the New York-based Yoshida Academy which offers courses to help clients in mastering public speaking and leadership skills and diversity, equity and inclusion consulting. The first step was to acknowledge our current diversity.

Founder 158

Founder Equity Leadership Hiring 158

VC Adventure

AUGUST 16, 2020

Despite how much time companies talk about the importance of their employees and, in many cases, how every employee is also an “owner” of their business through their option program, most companies are pretty ad hoc (or down right sloppy) about how they plan for and execute their option program.

Programming 148

Programming Vesting Equity Software Review 148

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 4, 2018

That revenue is in on 75,000 customers, earned through the hard work of 500 employees across six offices on three continents. This week we closed $250M in financing from Silver Lake , the premier technology private equity firm.

Engineer 152

Engineer Revenue San Francisco Security 152

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 4, 2019

Balancing Assets, Liabilities, and Owner’s Equity. Equity indicates what those with a stake in the company can claim as their own (even if your business “owns” a piece of equipment, for example, this is still considered an asset and not equity). Income Statement: Income = Revenues – Expenses. Making Choices.

Balance Sheet 172

Balance Sheet Software Review Equity Cofounder 172

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 26, 2023

Avoiding Poor-Quality Work Through Referrals Rob Walters and Mike Liyeos credit Quattro Development’s success to their small but scrappy team of eight employees. Thanks to hiring both contractors and employees based on old-fashioned referrals and networking, Quattro Development now has a solid crew. “I

Cofounder 148

Cofounder Developer United States Founder 148

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 20, 2019

This used to be one of the least automated components, but now software like Workday and 15Five are building platforms to assist workflow with related systems that support employee management. Now it is considered a way to enhance productivity as well as provide more flexible workflow for employees. Customer Support.

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Software Review Private Equity Cofounder 127

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 13, 2019

The best person who can champion your brand is you and your employees. Also, identify equities that won’t change. You can add flexibility to your brand by not violating previously established values and equities. Select a few of your employees who will take part or be in-charge of your rebranding.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Software Review Bankruptcy Equity 149

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in non-profits. What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)? There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. Personal loans from individuals, employees and board members.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 120

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 14, 2022

The equity dilution at this nascent stage is on desirable terms; such investing can lead to profitable returns. Equity listing offers an opportunity for investors from cities to own a part of the company. Group mediclaim policies provided by startups to their employees attract hard-working talent to these entities.

Technical Review 167

Technical Review Due Diligence India Startup 167

View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Editor’s note: Understanding how to divide founder equity at a startup can be tricky, even to the point of reaching emotional riffs between founders. Below, Lee Hower offers advice for approaching these equity discussions objectively and properly. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Equity 315

Equity Founder Sweat Equity Cofounder 315