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Sell for half a billion and get nothing (2021)

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Re: Sell for half a billion and get nothing (2021)

#121

Post by ardacinar »

nailer wrote: post #119
Analemma_ wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just your friend: a lot of people have given up on options. Obviously they're underrepresented here on HN because this is a startup-focused forum, but I know many, many people who have concluded "options have an EV of zero, startups pay options in lieu of market-rate salary, therefore startups are a raw deal; I will only go to FAANGs". They're sort of a dark matter universe since they are only visible in the…

Is ‘EV’ enterprise value or something else? Thanks.

Expected Value

Re: Sell for half a billion and get nothing (2021)

#122

Post by rimeice »

justinlloyd wrote: post #45

I am currently working with a start-up where the company is incapable of meeting its capex obligations. The founder raised a good amount of capital from investors a few years ago, and that provided a decent runway, but there's no traction, no KPIs, and whilst we've built some impressive technology, impressive technology does not bring in revenue. One of the problems (amongst many) is that the primary stakeholder has…

Wow, do not understand this approach some founders take. Being “radically” transparent by showing your cap table and talking through liquidation prefs/exit scenarios with every single employee is an absolute prerequisite for me. For me this has driven loyalty and paid dividends in culture and retention. I would not work for a startup where the founder wouldn’t share that info.

Re: Sell for half a billion and get nothing (2021)

#123

Post by justinlloyd »

JonChesterfield wrote: post #106
justinlloyd wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am just outlining the current situation. Nothing stated in my grandparent comment about my future plans. Had a one hour casual chat with a start-up game studio in early February, and the offer came through in email on Friday for significantly more money and an interesting problem. Had a one hour on-site casual chat with an established robotics company today, that stretched out in to about five hours of casually mee…

Are you evaluating the pay at the current place as if there was no missing back pay? As "slightly more money" sounds like "lots more" when the current place isn't making payroll

> Are you evaluating the pay at the current place as if there was no missing back pay?

Correct.

> As "slightly more money" sounds like "lots more" when the current place isn't making payroll

Also correct.

I am also evaluating the offers in terms of what I think I should be paid to make me satisfied with the compensation on offer.

Re: Sell for half a billion and get nothing (2021)

#125

Post by wolframhempel »

It's important to say that this isn't in the VCs interest either. As a VC, you want to keep the founders motivated to make you money and grow the pie - or at least to stay on and continue what they are doing. Taking away their personnel incentives through over boarding liquidation preferences is in neither side's interest.

This is even more true when it comes to future investments. Founders talk to each other. And articles, such as this one, get the word out. So - next time you're choosing a VC for your promising startup, will you go with the one that forced the last company into a sale that left them with nothing - or will you go with one with a more founder friendly track record?

Re: Sell for half a billion and get nothing (2021)

#127

Post by cwillu »

vehementi wrote: post #124
justinlloyd wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably. :) Look to your left. And whatever it is you do, don't blink. Don't. Ever. Blink.

What do you mean by that?

It's a Doctor Who reference to the episode “Blink”, which introduces a villain race of statues that can move, but only when unobserved.

Incoherent snippets of dialogue seen on a DVD turns out to be half of a conversation being had with a specific viewer in the future, a transcript of which goes back in time.

Re: Sell for half a billion and get nothing (2021)

#128

Post by bernardlunn »

The free money era is over. It is time for that message to sink in for both founders and investors. VC funds want founders to shoot for the moon but protect themselves by a) having a portfolio b) liquidation preference. As a founder you don’t have either. VC funds are not investors, they are middlemen who take very little risk.
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