Startups Tuesday Operational Roundtable - A Forum to Ask About Legal, Accounting, Project Management, or How to Get Started |
- Tuesday Operational Roundtable - A Forum to Ask About Legal, Accounting, Project Management, or How to Get Started
- How to treat unvested shares if a founder leaves
- Creating a Private Linkbuilding Network?
- Ramping "startup" salaries to "market rate" salaries?
- Should I sign over power of attorney to the company secretary?
- Product research survey template for a tech startup with 300 users?
- Seeking Guidance on Equity Split
- Why hasn’t automated ordering at restaurants become the norm?
- Working on startup money budged has been exhausted
- How do I transform my product idea into a real product
- How to monetize utility app?
- APP Development strategically or just go for it
| Posted: 29 Dec 2020 05:05 AM PST Welcome to this week's Operational Roundtable Thread. Ask about anything related to legal, accounting, project management, or how to get started. Don't be shy. The purpose of this is to learn and share ideas and methodologies with one another. Any question is a good question! If you are answering questions, remember to be kind and supportive. Many are just starting out and have no idea what they are doing. That's okay! We all knew nothing before we knew something. You can also find more support using instant chat on the /r/startups discord. [link] [comments]  |
| How to treat unvested shares if a founder leaves Posted: 29 Dec 2020 11:52 PM PST We've got a termsheet in front of us with the following clause: Unvested shares of good levers, and all shares (unvested and vested) of bad leavers go into the deferred share pool. We are 3 co-founders. In the scenarios that one of us leaves, the outcome is that the percentage ownerships of both remaining founders and the investor increases. We've agreed that the investor will be putting in $x for 10% of the company. If this clause is triggered, their percentage ownership would increase to 13%. Is this the norm? It doesn't seem fair that their % should increase because a founder leavers. We think the shares should be available for us to bring on a new co-founder, or be shared between the remaining 2 co-founders, who will be picking up the work. [link] [comments]  |
| Creating a Private Linkbuilding Network? Posted: 29 Dec 2020 10:45 AM PST hey everyone, so here's my dilemma: I work for a large company that has a media team, a backlink building team, and a writing team (I'm a content writer for them). Every week, they can get hundreds of backlinks with domain scores of 80+. But I also work part-time for a smaller company that just got started with content marketing and, frankly, I don't see how they could ever catch up with companies that went all into SEO in 2015-2018. I don't want to buy backlinks and don't want to work with a PBN. But is this an idea that could work: Find other related startups (20-30) who aren't direct competitors. Validate that their site is credible, then build a small network where each company consistently links to one another to help each other's growth. Is this technically blackhat SEO if each company agrees that they like the other persons' company, genuinely stands behind the product, and wants to help others grow? I view this a more of a longterm linkbuilding network rather than emails a bunch of rando's for a backlink without hearing back. [link] [comments]  |
| Ramping "startup" salaries to "market rate" salaries? Posted: 29 Dec 2020 08:53 AM PST As with any startup, we've spent the first five-ish years focused entirely on growth. And, despite some ups and downs, it's worked. We're at roughly 50+ employees now and all of them are still close to their "startup" salaries (which, for certain roles, are ~50% of the market rate). And yes, we do give performance-based raises quite often too. For the earliest of employees, the real incentive was stock options -- so that made it easy to keep salaries frugal. Even for the most recent hires, the incentive of stock options and our work environment/culture has continued to allow us to keep things frugal. That being said, I realize there's going to come a day when people are going to start realizing that stock options don't pay the mortgage (at least until an exit occurs) and I want to get ahead of it. I'm curious, how have other companies handled this? More specifically, how do you bring employees to their market rates... ideally, without losing the frugal culture? Or without causing other unexpected issues (eg, frustration, surprise, resentment, etc)? On the extremes, it seems like there are two options:
Side note: One other option I'm kicking around is skipping this entire process and, instead, building a company-wide quarterly bonus that distributes any excess profits above X% to all employees. Just throwing this into the mix in case anyone has thoughts on this idea too. Anyway, apologies for the wall of text. It's always fun to read about how other companies have scaled and matured... but people rarely discuss the HR/people side of that adventure. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I sign over power of attorney to the company secretary? Posted: 29 Dec 2020 05:40 AM PST I'm joining a startup as a technical co-founder and part of the share agreement asks me to sign over power of attorney to the company secretary. Is this something I should do or could it be an issue in future if I wish to exercise my voting writes? I know this is partly to protect the company if I die, but should I be looking for an independent attorney to act on my behalf? Thanks in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| Product research survey template for a tech startup with 300 users? Posted: 29 Dec 2020 06:45 AM PST We have built a very minimal MVP and we have managed to onboard about 300 free beta users in a month. The CTO is now building our first serious product iteration. We are refactoring everything and built something that we believe is unique. We have clear ideas about what the features should be like. However, I'd like to built with users rather than for them. Also, I would like to understand how much they'd be willing to pay. Is there any questionnaire template to start from, so I can understand "what to build" and "how much to charge" for? Survey-aside, would you suggest any other approaches? E.g. Focus groups or something? Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Seeking Guidance on Equity Split Posted: 28 Dec 2020 05:11 PM PST Hello, THE QUESTION Do I take the $10,000? How do I split the equity, and is 60% for him too much? The Conception I've got a startup I've been working on and off for the last 3 months. It started as an idea based on a platform we use at work, we had run into problems and I knew of ways to fix them if I did the build myself. My current employer is locked in as our first client and potentially other clients we know with in the first year. (i work fulltime and have 2 kids so when i say working on and off i mean it) Here is my issues (general timeline) (week 1) I had the initial idea year ago but decided to finally get started, and my co-worker thought it was a great idea and so we decided we would start. He doesn't carry any technical skills in the development stage, but has many connections that I know he could make use of to get potential clients. (Basically he would be sales/marketing) (week 3) Through the development I realized my best friend is in cs program and was learning about aspects of what I was going to be doing so I figured I'd offer him an in (we've always talked about building a brand/business), he accepted. I wasn't sure how to do the split I just figured 33/33/33. (week 5) I then had been talking to a 4th member with no intentions of adding him into it but rather seeing his thoughts on the idea. He says it interests him but I don't think much of it. (week 10) He offers $10,000 and said he'd want to be apart of it. We're still in development and he has years of experience over us and we have $0 funding, we're broke boys I wasn't sure how this would go as 25/25/25/25 didn't seem like it was fair with someone fronting 10k. Then he told me he wanted a 60/40 split and gave outline of how much he wanted us to have... me 25%, my friend 10%, and my co worker 5% with commission on clients he brings in. (week 12) I have used the founders pie chart and it indicates a similar split between the 3 of us, but I don't want to feel as if I'm pushing people out of something we just started... I've done a basic budget on what $10,000 would do for us and at the moment just running everything in a perfect scenario I'd say it would be around $4,000 a year give or take (with 0 salaries) Any info/guidance would be greatly appreciated!0? How do I split the equity, and is 60% for him too much? The Conception I've got a startup I've been working on and off for the last 3 months. It started as an idea based on a platform we use at work, we had run into problems and I knew of ways to fix them if I did the build myself. My current employer is locked in as our first client and potentially other clients we know with in the first year. (i work fulltime and have 2 kids so when i say working on and off i mean it) Here is my issues (general timeline) (week 1) I had the initial idea year ago but decided to finally get started, and my co-worker thought it was a great idea and so we decided we would start. He doesn't carry any technical skills in the development stage, but has many connections that I know he could make use of to get potential clients. (Basically he would be sales/marketing) (week 3) Through the development I realized my best friend is in cs program and was learning about aspects of what I was going to be doing so I figured I'd offer him an in (we've always talked about building a brand/business), he accepted. I wasn't sure how to do the split I just figured 33/33/33. (week 5) I then had been talking to a 4th member with no intentions of adding him into it but rather seeing his thoughts on the idea. He says it interests him but I don't think much of it. (week 10) He offers $10,000 and said he'd want to be apart of it. We're still in development and he has years of experience over us and we have $0 funding, we're broke boys I wasn't sure how this would go as 25/25/25/25 didn't seem like it was fair with someone fronting 10k. Then he told me he wanted a 60/40 split and gave outline of how much he wanted us to have... me 25%, my friend 10%, and my co worker 5% with commission on clients he brings in. (week 12) I have used the founders pie chart and it indicates a similar split between the 3 of us, but I don't want to feel as if I'm pushing people out of something we just started... I've done a basic budget on what $10,000 would do for us and at the moment just running everything in a perfect scenario I'd say it would be around $4,000 a year give or take (with 0 salaries) Any info/guidance would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Why hasn’t automated ordering at restaurants become the norm? Posted: 28 Dec 2020 10:37 AM PST I used to work as a waiter before starting university and I always wondered why the job hasn't been automated away using a screen at each table. It is without question that one employees yearly wage would pay for every screen at the tables including repairs if needed. People could just order their food from whatever screen was provided, and the only employees needed on the front end would be people to bring the food out until robotics is a little bit more advanced and costs are reduced I would imagine. This has probably been tried many times before I'm sure but does anyone know why a system hasn't been adopted in each restaurant yet? It seems like this could increase revenue for a lot of businesses. Do people really care that much about the face to face with the server? Is that the problem? Or is there not enough money to be made by the entrepreneur? Does anyone have any information about this space? [link] [comments]  |
| Working on startup money budged has been exhausted Posted: 28 Dec 2020 07:32 AM PST Hello, I have been working with a doctor in building an app to help people care for their loved ones. When starting the project I was being paid but by mid-year, the budget was spent, and I continued to work with being paid on speculation. I received a letter from a lawyer stating if the company sold x I would receive y. I didn't really care as I was emotionally invested in the app and I wanted to complete it. Now, the app is completed and in production, but the doctor still wants me to work on speculation. I do not feel like it anymore. He believes he can raise seed money to fund the next cycle of development. I want to continue to work only if he receives the seed money and not on speculation. There has been a lot of drama in working in the start-up the backend developer quit and we brought in a new backend developer who basically wants to redo the entire backend and the doctor wants it done. I personally don't think it brings any value to the customer and I having a hard time saying "No". I like him a lot and don't want to disappoint him. To make matters, worse I brought in a few close friends to help me work on the app. They're also being paid on speculation and don't have full-time jobs so they need money now. Whereas I have a full-time job and I'm not desperate for money. The doctor believes he can get funding by March but doesn't want to make any promises. I am personally and emotionally drained. Any advice? Sorry, if this is a bit incoherent, I'm just a tried developer. [link] [comments]  |
| How do I transform my product idea into a real product Posted: 28 Dec 2020 08:02 AM PST Hello, I have a simple product idea for a special designed desk lamp that could get very handy to a special group of people but I'm neither a manufacturer nor a light engineer. It isn't even about the light technology (just normal LED). It is very simple designed and a good first start for me since I have no further experiences in starting a product selling business. How do I produce this idea into a real physical product that I can sell to customers? Where do I start? Who do I contact? I don't want to produce 10.000 pieces at once. Just testing it out with 10 or 50 lamps for the beginning with a budget of about 2.000$. In case I'm on the wrong subreddit, I'm sorry. I didn't exactly find one for basic startup questions like that. Maybe you can help me out. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Dec 2020 11:36 AM PST I've an app idea I'm not sure I can monetize. My app would be a utility app, helping users to get something done, so they wouldn't be spending a lot of time in the app after they set it up initially. Most of the user interaction would be done through notifications, or looking at the "daily overview" main screen. Is there anything I may be overlooking? How are utility apps usually monetized? [link] [comments]  |
| APP Development strategically or just go for it Posted: 28 Dec 2020 05:21 AM PST Hey guys, my team and I currently developing a complex app. We are currently at a point if it makes sense to develop strategically or just build it and later fix it (of course before the release). We currently in the strategic for one year (it just a side project besides or normal jobs) everybody put around 10-20 hours a week into it. (mostly 20) We are a team of 4 people and basicly I feel that we are stucked with the planing we have a ton of plans scripts grafics etc. everything is documented sorted but we didnt code much and it can take a while. I fear that we get stucked so much into it the we get the start up blues and only produce plans. My question is what is your approach ? Should I trust the good planing at the beginning or go more freestyle. A mix of both makes no sense because if you dont stick to the plan the plan will make no sense because every step it maped out and a change will change the whole plan which defines the purpose of it. [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Startups - Rapid Growth and Innovation is in Our Very Nature!. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment