Слайд 1FOUNDER MELTDOWN
AVOIDING
10 TOPICS TO DISCUSS FIRST
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blacktanso/
START-UP PRE-NUPTIALS
Слайд 2Fighting with your co-founders sucks
Слайд 3Yet founder meltdowns are incredibly common in the start-up scene
Слайд 4Heck! Facebook’s founder squabble was so bad it become a feature-length
move called The Social Network!
Слайд 5They typically happen about 2 or 3 years in
Слайд 6when somebody starts thinking that somebody else is not putting in
their fair share of sweat
Слайд 7or that the strategy is just wrong
Слайд 8or life priorities are pulling you apart
Слайд 9or when the thrill is just gone
Слайд 10Whatever the case, it is almost always emotional, irrational, and painful
Слайд 11That’s why you should always prepare a “prenup” for the worst,
when things are the best
Слайд 12All founder teams should have a heart-to-heart and produce a signed
founders contract at the outset of any venture
Слайд 13Here are 10 things that you should discuss and agree upon
before signing
Слайд 140 1
SHAREHOLDING
How will we divvy up equity, assign vesting
rights, and why? Be quantitative here. It needs to make sense. Don’t just split it equally among friends. You are acting on behalf of the firm’s best interest here.
Слайд 150 2
TIME AND PRIORITIES
How much time will each of
us explicitly commit to during years 1, 2, & 3?
What are known, acceptable other priorities (and how will we agree to schedule them)?
Слайд 160 3
DELIVERABLES
What are our shared goals for the company?
What
are each of our SMART milestones and deliverables (as defined in a job description)? What if one of us does not deliver?
Слайд 170 4
LOANS & CASH INJECTION
How much $ will each
of us put in?
What if we need a cash injection from founders mid-stream? Who pays what, how will we determine valuation, and what happens if one of us can’t pay?
Слайд 180 5
SALARY
How much will everyone be paid? What happens
if we need to adjust up or down?
Слайд 190 6
RETIREMENT
What if one of us has an accident,
wants to leave or relocate? Needs to take another job to survive? What if that other job is competitive? What if it turns out that we hate each other?
What is expected in terms of leaving? How do we deal with shareholder loans & shares?
Слайд 200 7
TIE BRAKING
What if we disagree on strategy or
tactics? How do we make a final decision?
Слайд 210 8
REALITY CHECK
What are each of our known strengths
and weaknesses? What are we each not prepared to do?
Слайд 220 9
EXITS
What type of exits are we OK with?
How will we deal with the sale of shares (see standard shareholder agreement terms like tag-alongs, drag-alongs, right of first refusal, etc)?
Слайд 2310
WORST-CASES SCENARIOS
What is the process for dealing with a
breach of these agreements?
Слайд 28But know that if you cannot candidly discuss these hypotheticals and
agree upon resolutions when things are good, then something smells fishy!
Слайд 29SHARE THIS DECK & FOLLOW ME
(please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please)
Selena Sol asks…..
http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/presentations
selena@selenasol.com
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/eric-tachibana/0/33/b53
Please note that all
content & opinions expressed in this deck are my own and don’t necessarily represent the position of my current, or any previous, employers