Tag: founders
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Lockdown Lost-Founder IP
If you won the lottery today, how many long lost relatives (that you don’t recall) would come out of the shadows of your family tree to test the generosity of their favorite relative? I’m willing to bet a few. Now if your startup received a $5MM Series A investment from a venture capital firm, how…
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How to Split the Startup Founder Equity Pie
Founders frequently ask me to provide guidance on how their startup should split equity between co-founders. My answer is always: (1) It Depends, and (2) Quickly. (1) IT DEPENDS If you’ve ever hired a lawyer, you will (unfortunately) hear the phrase “it depends” several times. In this situation, the “it depends” hinges on the respective…
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5 Common Founder Mistakes
This is a re-post of an article that I wrote about common founder mistakes for StartupLucky.com and Killerstartups.com (not sure if it went out yet). 1. Spending Too Much Time Keeping Your “Unique” Idea Top Secret. Some founders attempt to have everyone within 25 feet of them sign an NDA. Instead of spending time drafting…
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Don’t Create an “Issuance Pool”
“We want to have 30% of the startup company at exit.” -Anonymous Startup Founders Occasionally, founders will plan out their startup’s lifespan to the point of pre-determining their final equity figure after all hires and investments have been made. Usually, a set of founders want to end up with a final equity percentage in the…