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Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad

Steve Blank

A version of this article first appeared in the Harvard Business Review. VC’s have just changed the ~50-year old social contract with startup employees. For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. Why Startups Offer Stock Options. Here’s why. Why would they do that?

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8 Questions You Should Ask Before You Join A Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

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. One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. When did this effort really start, including pivots?

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Why Uber is The Revenge of the Founders

Steve Blank

A version of this article is in the Harvard Business Review. Technology cycles have become a treadmill, and for startups to survive they need to be on a continuous innovation cycle. 20th Century Tech Liquidity = Initial Public Offering. Technology Cycles Measured in Years. This seems to be occurring more and more.

Founder 281
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Hiring Employee #1

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

On the other hand, if during the interview she asks how often you do performance reviews, that means she doesn’t understand the startup culture. stock, performance bonuses) are preferred to guaranteed earnings (e.g. You’re not just hiring any old programmer or salesman, you’re hiring employee #1. Or therapy.

Hiring 282
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Why The Future Of US High-Tech Is Bright

YoungUpstarts

Other social networking, online marketing, clean-tech and bio-tech companies have fallen out of favor with some investors, fueling speculation regarding the future of the US technology sector. A growing number of skeptics are openly talking of a ‘high tech bubble’. Global Demand.

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Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers

SoCal CTO

And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ? And let’s be honest, most employees, advisors, etc. Consider what Ryan Waggoner tells us How to Find a Technical Cofounder : When I was doing freelance development, I had about one pitch per week for an equity-only opportunity. Go to user groups.

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Why GE’s Jeff Immelt Lost His Job – Disruption and Activist Investors

Steve Blank

This article first appeared on the Harvard Business Review blog. He sold off slower-growth, low-tech, and nonindustrial businesses — financial services, media, entertainment, plastics, and appliances. During Jeff Immelt’s tenure GE’s stock-market value fell by about half. billion of GE stock – about 1.5%