Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If however you are giving a “normal employee” an incentive stock option plan (more on that later), that’s entirely different. Make sure you understand all of your options before making any decisions. When business owners decide to go down the route of equity compensation, there are two primary options to choose between.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

These costs have come down a lot since then, and the rules have been tweaked a bit but the overall 409A framework still is as it was when originally adopted – companies must hire a 3rd party to value their stock each year. Similarly I assumed that later stage companies would also show a smaller gap. I was wrong.

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Finance | Tuesdays. Financing a Small Business. Financing A Small Business. Personal Finance. Back in 1997, Randy Parker was staring at a blank whiteboard, wondering where hed find the money to hire the employees and consultants he needed to build his new product. "We Start-up | Mondays. Technology | Thursdays.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

You have your general management meeting and in your general management meeting you talk about product development, about marketing and about finance. So hiring more people and being around more people and getting more things done is not actually one of the reasons. I’m going to hire another engineer. Edwin: I know.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 1, 2009

Data is analyzed by: founder/non-founder status, company revenue and headcount, geography, business segment, and number of financing rounds raised. For example, below are the 2008 results for average equity granted at time of hire in IT companies: CEO 5.40%. Tags: Stock options. President/COO 2.58%. Head of Sales 1.20%.

Stock Options 31

Stock Options CTO Hire Israel Equity 31

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 24, 2013

Once we’ve invested in a company, I find it easiest to talk about culture in terms of hiring because it’s (a) often the most important post-financing activity and (b) it’s an immediate use case with real tangible decisions. One which will make the successive hires and functioning of the team easier.

Hiring 107

Hiring Advisory Board Ruby Stock Options 107

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2016

Finally, we hired a consultant to keep us on track toward our goal. The foundation of your financial success, it allows you to forecast the income of purchased assets such as employees, benefits, or company stock options. Are you currently targeting a specific number of employees to hire to keep up with company growth?

Balance Sheet 189

Balance Sheet Stock Options .Net Stock 189

venturehacks.com

MARCH 21, 2008

Advisor compensation Whether you’re hiring a normal advisor or super advisor: Advisory shares are usually issued as common stock options. The options typically vest monthly over 1-2 years with 100% single-trigger acceleration and no cliff. The company has left the line of business where the advisor added value.

Advisory Board 44

Advisory Board Cap Table Vesting Equity 44

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Equally it could vote to increase the stock option plan to 99% of the company. Finally, the boards job is to vote on key considerations including budgets, financings, legal issues and on rare occasion?—?hiring hiring & firing the CEO. In many cases management teams confuse the roles and responsibilities.

Startup 204

Startup Dilution Government Stock Options 204

The Next Web

MARCH 2, 2014

Instead, honestly analyze the company’s business plan and finances to determine whether the business needs to secure outside funding in order to achieve its objectives, and if so, how much. Should we finance with debt or equity? This is the ultimate question to consider when weighing funding options. Take your time.

Liquidity Event 139

Liquidity Event Equity Finance Stock Options 139

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 11, 2015

But it’s an important consideration, especially for companies that plan to offer alternative compensation such as employee stock options, which will usually require a 409A valuation. Why is it important to hire an experienced valuation firm? The timing will vary depending on the purpose.

Valuation 100

Valuation Stock Options CPA Merger 100

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

And as the company grows, it brings on new people and may decide to issue stock options to attract new staff and funding from investors. For instance, the cap table will help you with various possibilities while running business activities like available options and pre-money valuations faster. Total share ownership.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. The cap is irrelevant if the next equity financing is at a valuation below the cap amount.) These options were granted shortly after MySpace, Inc.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Up and Running

JUNE 19, 2015

You guys are growing, there’s a lot of pressure, more shows, hire more people, how do you have time to deal with that and make sure that you build the culture that you need and want in the context of “But we don’t have enough people to do everything we want to do? That’s my dream. Jonathan: Awesome.

Cloud 60

Cloud Small Business Silicon Valley Media 60

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

If the best client success person is in Oklahoma instead of LA, we’re going to hire her, (in fact, we did). Hire versatile players and lean into your team The SVB collapse reminded us that staffing matters. It emphasized to us that we need to make versatile hires with a focus on talent and ability to learn over experience.

Early Stage 143

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 143

www.startupcfo.ca

MARCH 16, 2012

One way to deal with these issues to hire part time executives. Part time execs work when: You hire in non-core areas : Finance is super important to any company, but it is not a core aspect of the company’s mission and vision. So, finance is a perfect function to outsource to a part time CFO.

Hiring 41

Hiring Advisory Board Stock Options Finance 41

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 15, 2009

VCs have an unfair advantage when it comes to financings. A typical start-up company will do 2-4 venture capital financings before a successful exit (or, conversely, an ignomious ending). In contrast, the typical venture capitalist, either individually or across their partnership, will do 5-10 financings in any given year.

Pre-Money Valuation 49

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Stock Options Post-Money Valuation 49

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? 109k/year plus the option to build more widgets in the future.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS The Option Pool Shuffle by Nivi on April 10th, 2007 “Follow the money card!&# – The Inside Man, Three-Card Shuffle Summary: Don’t let your investors determine the size of the option pool for you. Solution: Use a hiring plan to size the option pool.

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68

ithacaVC

JUNE 20, 2011

2. You need (or think you need) a stock option plan: granting stock options (and other forms of equity compensation to employees like restricted stock) should be done under a written equity incentive plan. Lawyer time required: 5 to 10 hours dependent on how fast you are hiring.

Stock Options 58

Stock Options Vesting Subscription Agreement Founder Vesting 58

Startup Company Lawyer

JULY 20, 2009

Once again, please keep in mind that the documents from typical online incorporation services do not contain IP assignment provisions in connection with the purchase of founders stock or separate IP assignment documents. Hiring employees or third party contractors. Issuing stock options.

IP 67

IP Stock Options Preferred Stock Capital Gains 67

ithacaVC

DECEMBER 13, 2013

They are typically pretty simple: (i) shares owned by founders and (ii) shares authorized for issuance in a stock option pool, some of which may be issued to employees already and some of which will be available for future issuance. S0, being able to clearly state how many options you want to grant at the time of the financing is KEY.

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Liquidation Preference 67

Ben's Blog

APRIL 21, 2010

Six Months Later… Fast-forward six months and everyone in the company is wondering why the sales (or marketing or finance or product) guy who has produced nothing got such a monster stock option package. Meanwhile, the people doing all the work have much fewer options. So what happens? Final thoughts.

Stock Options 70

Stock Options Restful Hiring Sales 70

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2015

They financed their companies, to the extent possible, in a manner minimizing the cost of capital, planning for organic growth in the number of customers served and in associated revenues. Flippers financed by venture capitalists are more likely to hire executives having high level profiles and previous exit experience.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Balance Sheet Stock Options Valuation 48

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

About the Author Ryan Roberts is a startup lawyer and represents technology companies through all phases of the startup process, including incorporation, seed & venture financings, and exit transactions. Who must be a co founder and who can remain a hired principal? Who must be a co founder and who can remain a hired principal?

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40

Early Growth Financial Services

AUGUST 30, 2013

Outsourced financial services firm adds valuation to suite of services to provide early-stage companies with a comprehensive integrated-service approach to finance. Startups have a reporting obligation, per the IRS to provide a Fair Market Value analysis in conjunction with stock option grants.

Valuation 31

Valuation San Francisco Silicon Valley Stock Options 31

Hunter Walker

MAY 1, 2016

As a hiring manager, what do you look for in new grads? AJ: Startups hire just in time. Your friends who go to work in management consulting or finance will have their job offers locked down nearly a year in advance, whereas you may be interviewing well after graduation.

New York City 48

New York City New York Los Angeles Startup 48

Hunter Walker

MAY 1, 2016

As a hiring manager, what do you look for in new grads? AJ: Startups hire just in time. Your friends who go to work in management consulting or finance will have their job offers locked down nearly a year in advance, whereas you may be interviewing well after graduation.

New York City 48

New York City New York Los Angeles Startup 48

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

2 Stock Classes: Common and Preferred. 5 Stock vs Options. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. The re-heating of the venture funded tech market has pushed a heat up of the hiring market, and Im getting more calls from friends asking for help understanding startup stock (equity) offers. 3 Dilution. 4 Vesting.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 23, 2019

You’ve hired all these smart recent grads from Ivy League schools, how do you then keep them once you get them there? At one point, there was a sentiment that it’s easier to get hired here in the first place than it is to move to another team, because there are a lot of variables that have to happen internally.

Programming 74

Programming Finance Turkey Stock Options 74

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

Financing: holy crap - we are running out of money in 6 months! The first version of the go to market team is hired (i.e., Also, that first VP you hired was great from 0-1 and good from 1-10, but you''re afraid she can''t scale to the next level. Financing: The "hopes and dreams" financing stage is over.

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 27, 2011

Deal A gets to your number in stock options with a 4-year earn-out in a public company whose stock has been uninteresting for the past three years, plus an additional third of your number in cash — more than you wanted! Would you take a lower “number&# to get Deal B? Alternatives.

Sales 235

Sales Term Sheet Stock Deal Structure 235