SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

I was just asked about a particular startup situation (seed stage, CMO hire, non-founder) and particularly what compensation and equity is appropriate. Quick & Dirty How-To: Employee Stock Option Allocations Seed Stage Compensation What are typical compensation numbers?

CTO Hire 329

CTO Hire Equity Seed Stage Option Pool 329

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Every startup should have at least a couple of outside advisors who are not major investors or family members, anxious to talk to new investors and key new hires. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

If you hire 6 sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business for 4-6 months. So your Q1 results will be $180,000 less profitable than if you hadn’t hired them. Hiring more people isn’t always the right answer.

Startup 418

Startup Revenue Technical Review Flash 418

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

My original post was directed at hiring managers. It said that I didn’t believe it was a good idea to hire job hoppers. My view still stands – for many hiring managers a large factor in looking through resumes of somebody who is 30+ and has never worked somewhere for more than 18 months will be the job hopping element.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 21, 2009

More than that, knowing your "padding" as I used to call it is helpful in making decisions like "Can I afford to try this Risky Expensive Thing," such as making your first hire or trying a $20,000 media blitz. I know, you can't afford anyone right now, no one can do as good a job as you, and you don't even know that you'll ever hire someone.

Startup 315

Startup Revenue Cofounder Sales 315

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. What accelerated this was the collapse of the public stock markets. And of course you will produce our next wave of innovation.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

If you are not in a position to hire more personnel to manage different areas of your operations then it’s likely you’re still the wearer of various hats within the business – meaning you need a streamlined system that makes business operations as easy as possible, takes minimal time for you to manage and effortlessly keeps you in control.

Software Review 187

Software Review New Zealand Stock Database 187

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

And let’s be honest, most employees, advisors, etc. You should avoid spending your time here and instead focus on finding a way to generate revenue or to attract investors so that you can afford to hire someone. In a few cases it’s where I’m a co-founder of the business. How To Get There

Technical Cofounder 241

Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

He just hired Meg Whitman. With fewer than 10 employees but almost $2-billion dollars in the bank, they plan on jumping right in. Tech IPO prices exploded and subsequent trading prices rose to dizzying heights as the stock prices became disconnected from the traditional metrics of revenue and profits. And it may work.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Forget to get around to setting up that Employee Stock Option Plan and want to be able to give the early guys their options at a low strike price? I know he’s smart but you wouldn’t hire a Javascript developer to do your database design – would you? Shame about that pesky FAS 157 ruling.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 23, 2023

Most of her lessons were applicable to any government employee venturing out to the private sector. At first many start-ups hire a lobbying firm. Larger companies hiring a Chief of Staff often look for someone who has an MBA, experience with one of the big consulting firms, or experience doing the job already.

Government 241

Government Advisory Board Salary Sales Cycle 241

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

I never hire job hoppers. They make terrible employees. Why do job hoppers make such bad employees at startups? -. You have tough choices to make about whom you hire on your team. Now is the time that you need “all hands on deck.&# That awesome gal you hired in engineering has job options and she knows it.

Hiring 392

Hiring Employee Vesting Silicon Valley 392

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Every startup should have at least a couple of outside advisors who are not major investors or family members, anxious to talk to new investors and key new hires. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Sweat Equity 207

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 207

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

While he kept bringing the conversation back to their big valuation I tried to steer the conversation back to how they were going to deal with: training the influx of new hires – in both culture and job specific tasks. retaining their existing hires who were working for intern-like salaries with little equity.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

A key employee left the company, which caused the company to fail. Which means they have to stock large amounts of gasoline. “One key employee” is brittle. The company landed one big customer representing 80% of total revenue, but that customer canceled. But sometimes you experience the adverse end of that risk.

Software Review 294

Software Review Channel Revenue Non-Compete 294

Transformify

MARCH 14, 2020

These days, due to coronavirus outbreak, many businesses have asked their employees to work from home. At the same time, the stock markets collapsed, and most businesses already report skyrocketing losses, unmet revenue targets and insufficient stock due to production slow down in China, India and the rest of the world.

Hiring 75

Hiring Bulgaria Italy Spain 75

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

The stock market clearly values companies that can deliver disruptive innovation. Some companies use a suggestion box, others like Google give employees 20% of their time to work on their own projects. And to keep executing large organizations hire employees with a range of skills and competencies.

Private Equity 330

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 330

The Next Web

OCTOBER 14, 2012

You should be extremely specific as to what the client is hiring you for. What about stock imagery? Will you need to find and purchase stock imagery or will your client be providing their own imagery? For example, if you are redesigning a client website, does that also include coding?

Tennessee 159

Tennessee Software Review Government Stock 159

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

If you’re a pure startup and haven’t raised any money – you might change the life of every person you hire. I always encourage people to allocate a few extra stock options to those that join super early when your company is risky and they just believed in you. Sure, you can get away with less, but why?

Europe 352

Europe France San Francisco Chicago 352

Up and Running

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Use it to manage the hiring process, to keep track of investment and fundraising projects, to manage deals, and much more. I think it’s a great tool for listing out stock you need to buy, for prioritizing tasks with your team, and for playing around with ideas, thanks to the super easy drag-and-drop functionality built into the app.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Email SCRUM Stock 153

Up and Running

MARCH 7, 2018

In my time, I learned a thing or two about the importance of preventing employee turnover. Aside from the time-consuming tasks of screening potential employees, interviewing, and re-hiring , losing and replacing employees is expensive. On average, it costs nearly three times an employee’s salary to replace them.

Employee 91

Employee Startup Salary Hiring 91

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

For example, how should you handle a cash flow crisis, where you have to choose between paying a creditor and your employees? It’s not uncommon for investors to push strong personal agendas, or major stock holders to focus on short-term goals in lieu of your high-level ones. High team culture impacted by elements of negativity.

Due Diligence 219

Due Diligence Leadership Stock Entrepreneur 219

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 22, 2019

Without the resources to hire a full time bookkeeper and little understanding of how to get their heads above water, many of these small businesses will founder having struggled due to lack of cash flow and poorly managed accounts. Provide real-time stock and inventory levels. Receipt payment via multiple platforms. Staff requirements.

Software Review 176

Software Review Due Diligence Startup Stock 176

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 23, 2023

In this approach, some of your employees will continue working from home, while others will work from the office. You can upgrade the break room with a nicer table, better cooking equipment, and something recreational for employees to enjoy, like a dartboard. Instead, consider hiring based on talent. Consider a hybrid workplace.

Lean 158

Lean Technical Review Startup Acquisition 158

YoungUpstarts

JULY 21, 2019

Make sure your employees and business still have the essentials. Collaboration programs make it easy to communicate with your employees and client online. Some websites offer free vector graphics, free icons, free stock photos, and more. The best way to avoid this is by covering all your legal bases by hiring an attorney.

Software Review 191

Software Review Entrepreneur Cost Cofounder 191

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 30, 2020

Speed equals immediacy AND certainty of delivery (in stock): Consumers want same day or next day delivery more than ever before. Walmart, Amazon, Instacart are all attempting to rapidly hire hundreds of thousands of employees to meet the expectations of their customers.

America 222

America New York City Technical Review Distribution 222

VC Cafe

JANUARY 14, 2022

The Israeli innovation authority deems the sector suffers from ‘ chronic employee shortage’ The battle for talent has meant that companies had to lure potential employees with billboards, influencer videos, referral schemes, etc. January saw tech stocks rattle (read Fred Wilson’s the Selloff ).

Israel 158

Israel Technical Review Lock-up Period South Korea 158

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 14, 2013

While available merchandise is listed, much of it is labeled with a red “out of stock” stamp. If there’s an art school in your area, to keep costs down, try hiring a digital art student interested in building his or her portfolio. Try not to use a lot of stock photo art on your website. and pick their brains.

Small Business 178

Small Business Social Media Channel Media 178

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 149

Programming Vesting Equity Software Review 149

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Every startup should have at least a couple of outside advisors who are not major investors or family members, anxious to talk to new investors and key new hires. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 120

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Stock Option. If you are more of a technical person and not a business leader by nature, make sure your investor knows that you intend to hire a CEO to take your place as soon as reasonably possible. Management Resumes and Organizational Chart. Customer References. Personal References. Social Security Numbers (for background checks).

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 2, 2022

Having achieved our business goals for the year and now being stocked in Nordstrom Stores have been proud moments. Personally, I’m proud of the way I prioritize my health and that of my employees this year. Aside from protecting our health, this also provided me and my employees with more time with our families and less of a commute.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Jordan Employee Revenue 126

Up and Running

OCTOBER 19, 2021

The American job market has become even more competitive amid the pandemic-fueled “Great Resignation” — the number of employees quitting their jobs peaked in April 2021 and has remained high over the past few months. . As a startup looking to hire your dream team, this news can be exciting. Resourcefulness.

Startup 127

Startup Salary Stock Options Employee 127

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant. This happens because many CEOs are passionate, market-driven people who are constantly trying to launch new products, win contracts, get press, hire staff and woo VCs. HR & Legal.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Hire everyone you need as an employee. We split our stock one-fifth each. The required number of cofounders for success is: “Zero” – You don’t need a cofounder. You are the founder, the visionary, the uber-entrepreneur. Why would you want to have someone second-guessing you? One” – You have to have a cofounder.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Kenya Dilution 143

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 18, 2018

The result of these vulnerabilities is that we hire the wrong candidates, listen to the wrong people, and fail to differentiate our businesses. How false expertise leads us to hire the wrong people. In short, we seek to validate our own characteristics: Hiring someone who’s like us reinforces our own value. Reduce the noise.

Technical Review 188

Technical Review Montana Differentiation Hiring 188

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 1, 2018

But I am saying it’s time to get yourself (or an enthusiastic employee) a voice-enabled device and start paying attention to how companies are using it. Do you not have (or want to hire) a team of creatives to make your content and your marketing stand out? Keep your inventory stocked. Or even a “micro-influencer”. Back to you.

Small Business 187

Small Business Marketing Technical Review Social Media 187