article thumbnail

Most Common Early Start-up Mistakes

Both Sides of the Table

Founder vesting. Yesterday I wrote a blog posting on founder vesting (see here ). You should implement restricted stock with vesting at the earliest stages in your company -even before the VC’s ask. Founder vesting is an insurance policy for all team members involved.

article thumbnail

4 Deadly Legal Mistakes That Startups Make

Scott Edward Walker

You also need to remember to file your 83(b) election with the Internal Revenue Service within 30 days after the grant/purchase date of the restricted shares (see tip #3 of my post “ Founder Vesting: Five Tips for Entrepreneurs ”). This is a particular concern if the startup is in the same space as a founder’s prior employer.

Vesting 89
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

How to Protect Your Startup Founder’s Shares

Startup Professionals Musings

In reality, so-called “founder’s” shares are simply common stock, issued at the time of startup incorporation, for a very low price, and normally allocated to the multiple initial players commensurate with their investment or role. These shares are allocated and committed, but not really issued and owned (vested) until later.

Vesting 245
article thumbnail

The Co-Founder Mythology

Both Sides of the Table

It is increasingly popular to have “founder dating&# or “startup weekend hackathons&# of some variety or the other. Startups have high failure rates. And some of them will be from startups that are already very successful. I wrote about many of the early-stage startup mistakes here. That’s OK.

Cofounder 393
article thumbnail

How To Prevent Your Founder’s Shares From Vaporizing

Startup Professionals Musings

Even though initial stock has no value or market, it is extremely valuable in dividing entity ownership between multiple co-founders, commensurate with their investment, contribution and role. Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out.

Vesting 298
article thumbnail

How to pick a co-founder

venturehacks.com

Venture Hacks Good advice for startups. SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS How to pick a co-founder by Naval Ravikant on November 12th, 2009 Update : Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. Build in founder vesting (a.k.a.

Cofounder 101
article thumbnail

8 Keys To Maximizing Your New Venture Stock Net Worth

Startup Professionals Musings

Even though initial stock has no value or market, it is extremely valuable in dividing entity ownership between multiple co-founders, commensurate with their investment, contribution and role. Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out.

Stock 240