Founders and Fundraising
Protecting Employee Stock Options From Dilution
Your employees are going to be really worried about their stock options being diluted after a round of funding. This is especially true in bad economic times when you might take a down round with heavy dilution. However, there is a secret weapon you can employ to reduce the dilution you and your employees will…
Read MoreHow To Raise Money In A Tough Environment
Raising money is never easy for an early stage startup.. However, raising money in a tough environment is really hard. However it is doable. I should know. I raised my company’s initial funding of $12 million during the toughest startup fundraising environment of the last 50 years; The Great Recession. And I’ve helped several entrepreneurs…
Read MoreHow Do You Determine Your Co-Founder’s Salary?
“I think our salaries should be different,” “Jim”, my co-founder, said to me and “John”, my other co-founder, “You should be paid the most, but, I think we should all have the amount of equity.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. That was not the response from Jim…
Read MoreWhat Do You Tell Investors When A Co-Founder Quits?
“What’s your plan?” That’s what “Raul”, one of our two large investors, asked me after I let him know that I was going to fire “Randy”, one of my co-founders. Yes, he also asked my why I was firing Randy. I’ll get back to that later. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I…
Read More5 Fatal Decisions You Don’t Want To Make
I walked into the office space, and there was no one there. It was just a bunch of empty cubicles. The space was dimly lit, and the ceilings were low. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “My god, this space is depressing,” I said to my co-founder “Randy”.…
Read MoreShould You Ask An Advisor To Invest?
“I would like you to invest $50,000 in my startup,” “Peter” said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Peter and I had been introduced a few weeks earlier, and I’d met with him a couple of times. I really liked what Peter was doing, and I…
Read MoreDo You Need A CTO To Get Funding?
“I like you, Brett. And I really like what you’re (company is) doing,” Jack, the Venture Capitalist, said to me. “However, I think I’ll wait until you have a VP Engineering before I invest.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. In my pitch I had been upfront with…
Read MoreWhat Are The Signs You’ve Chosen A Bad Co-Founder?
If there’s one thing I am an expert in, it’s bad co-founders. After all, the first two teams of co-founders I tried to start my company with didn’t work out. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. There were “Jim” and “John”, my first two co-founders. We worked together…
Read MoreThe Nine Facts Of Fundraising You Need To Know
“Hey Brett, I’m going to be on vacation for the next couple of weeks. I’ll pick up the diligence when I get back,” Tucker said to me. Tucker was a potential new investor in our company. I could tell he was serious about investing in our company based on the work he was doing. Download…
Read MoreWhat Are The 11 Steps You Can Take When A Cofounder Quits?
I started my company with two co-founders: “Jim” and “John”. I was the CEO, Jim was the marketing guy, and John was the engineering guy. My two co-founders and I had worked together previously. We understood the plan and direction we were going in. We started pitching VCs after working on the plan for about…
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