Founder Life

TLDRTalent - For many startups, equity forms a common part of the compensation package they offer employees, particularly early hires. It can be an effective way of attracting and hiring talent when a startup is at an early stage and is financially restrained from being able to offer high salaries.

TLDRDeciding how, and when, to split equity with your co-founder(s) is a fundamental part of the early stages of setting up a company. Many factors should be taken into consideration when deciding on the equity split amongst the founding team.Structuring your founding team and laying the foundations of

A Founder’s Service Agreement (FSA) is a legal contract all founders should sign in the early stages of a company’s formation. It is important Founder’s are in agreement about how they are going to create a company and what the company’s future looks like. Ideally, a

TLDRWhen it comes to fundraising, there are a whole host of sources of funding beyond Angel Investors and VCs. You should consider raising capital from all of these before turning to Angels and/or institutional investment.  The startup boom has been accompanied by a venture capital boom and the options

TLDRComplementary not duplicatory - A co-founder should complement your skills and strengths rather than duplicate them. A CTO-CEO relationship is likely to prove more fruitful than a CEO-CEO or CTO-CTO relationship.Rapport - Entering into a relationship with someone who you trust and get on well with will make any

TLDRCompatibility - Know what you are looking for in a co-founder. Ensure they complement your skills rather than duplicate them.Network - Utilising your existing network, and expanding it, is a great place to start when trying to find a co-founder or aiming to get recommendations and introductions.Accelerators/Incubators

TLDRAn options pool is the portion of a company's shares set aside for future employees as part of an equity incentive plan.They are often used to attract talent to a company as part of an employee's compensation package and are also used to create alignment amongst employees and motivate

TLDRBandwidth - Having someone to split work with and allocate tasks according to individual strengths, means a lot more work can be achieved in the same amount of time and at a higher quality.Support - Having a co-founder allows you to balance the trials and tribulations of building a

Why Founders should be conducting due diligence on investors, regardless of whether they will actually act on their findings.