Startups, Think Again: Writing Code Is Not Your Biggest Challenge
Web designers and developers are passionate about what they do. It’s that passion that drives us all to take risk and build amazing things.
But at the same time, that passion sometimes makes us dive into projects heads first and unprepared. And that’s when it hits you <*SMACK*> like the first time I went to take a drivers test without studying; stating on the exam that it’s OK to drive through an orange traffic light “when you’re careful” seemed like a good thing to do at that time. It wasn’t.
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Scaling startups
The Scaling Startups panel I was on last week at Supernova generated a little coverage, but I wanted to go into a lot more detail than what I saw there, so it seems like a good time to jump back into blogging full-force. The panel abstract read:
If I Launched a Startup
Here’s what I’d do in the beginning:
Incorporation
(1) Entity Choice: Corporation or Corporation
(2) State of Incorporation: Delaware
(3) Authorized Shares in Charter: 10,000,000 Shares
(4) Type of Shares: Common Stock
(5) Par Value of Common: $0.0001
(6) Initial Founders Issuance: 8,000,000 Shares
(7) Founders Equity Split: Depends on the Team, But Quickly and After the Awkward & Difficult Conversations
(8) Vest Founders Shares?: Hell Yes
(9) Vesting Schedule for Founders Shares: 4 years with a One Year Cliff
(10) Consideration for Founders Shares: Cash & IP
(11) Handling of “Lost Founders”: Lock Down the IP (then Wish Them Well)
How to Not Suck at a Group Presentation
Most people suck at presenting to big groups. It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs.
What’s the Secret Success of MINT.com? The Real Numbers Behind Aaron Patzer’s Growth Strategy
Aaron Patzer, CEO of MINT.com, dropped by The Funded and Vator.tv‘s Juice Pitcher tonight to share some secrets of the company’s success. (Just in case you don’t plug the TechCrunch feed directly into your brain stem: MINT is the wildly successful, soon-to-be-acquired-by-Intuit, #1 personal finance site…and oh yes, full disclosure that First Round Capital is a thrilled investor.)