Author: Ryan Roberts
-
Why Your Current Employer Invention Assignment is Key
Due primarily to financial constraints, many founders keep a separate job (a “day job”) during the early stages of a startup. This is common whether or not the startup is incorporated, and it is often how co-founders self-fund or reduce risk prior to a seed round. What many founders overlook is that a document from…
-
When Majority of the Board Doesn’t Mean Board Control
TL;DR: Giving up “only one board seat” doesn’t automatically mean you kept control. In venture deals, board control often shows up through approval rights (who must say “yes”) and stockholder class votes, even when founders still hold a board-seat majority. The misconception: “We kept the board, so we kept board control” I hear this a…
-
If I Launched a Startup in 2014
I thought I would expand upon and update my “If I Launched a Startup” post from 2010 to include recent issues such as incubators and crowdfunding. So in 2014, here’s what I’d do in the beginning: Startup Incorporation (1) When: As soon as I was serious about making my startup a business, but after I…
-
How Many Shares Should be Issued to Founders at Incorporation?
TL;DR: A clean, common starting point is issuing about 50% to 80% of your authorized shares of common stock to the founders at incorporation. The rest stays authorized but unissued so you have room for an option pool, future founders, and other equity grants without immediately paying to amend your charter. The baseline: issue 50%…
-
Startup Advisor Agreement: A Primer on the Basics
TL;DR: If you are giving a member of your advisory board equity, you should also sign an Advisor Agreement (sometimes called an Advisor Letter) between the advisor and your startup. It protects your company, clarifies expectations, and closes the two biggest gaps: confidentiality and intellectual property. Why an Advisor Agreement matters when you grant advisor…
-
Advisor Stock Option Grants
Advisors are one of the few “force multipliers” a startup can add early without committing to a full-time hire. The right advisor gives you judgment you have not earned yet and introductions you cannot manufacture on a cold email. The wrong advisor gives you calendar invites. You can usually find strong advisors through incubators, operator…
-
Startups Should Invest in a Quality Scanner
When your startup goes through due diligence for an investment round or an exit, investor’s or buyer’s legal counsel will typically send a laundry list of document requests. These documents range from the startup’s bylaws to stock option agreements to third party contracts to prior financing documents. Quite often, these diligence materials are not readily…
-
The Standard Financing Document Pipe Dream
TL;DR: Even though venture financings often start from well-known templates, there is no single set of “standard” documents across seed and venture rounds. Larger rounds more often anchor on the NVCA model forms, while seed and especially incubator deals vary more because parties optimize for speed, leverage, and their preferred risk allocation. Treat “standard” as…
-
SAFE Seed Financing Documents
TL;DR: In a typical SAFE round, the core document is the SAFE itself, plus board and stockholder approvals and basic closing paperwork. The document that quietly causes the most future pain is the side letter (usually pro rata rights or MFN), so treat it like a real deal term. If you use the YC post-money…
-
Of Mice and Mentors
Mentors can be a force multiplier for early-stage startups, but incubators routinely let the dynamic drift into something messier. Founders show up looking for guidance, and too often they get soft pitches, status games, and pressure to formalize relationships before anyone has earned that level of trust. Good mentorship speeds teams up. Bad “mentorship” quietly…