“All outstanding shares of the Company’s Common Stock . . . are subject to (i) a right of first refusal in favor of the Company upon any proposed transfer . . .; and (ii) a lock-up or market standoff agreement . . . .” –National Venture Capital […]
New founders often approach service providers generally, and lawyers in particular, with a degree of caution. They’re typically aware that they need advice, but they’re concerned that obtaining such advice will come at a cost, which most startups would prefer to avoid given the need to focus […]
So you’ve been hammering away, putting your life savings into your new startup (plus maxing out your credit cards) and now you have investors willing to put money into your company. How should the money you contribute before investors be treated? And how do you to get […]
A couple of months ago, we gave you five privacy tips relevant to startups and told you about the consequences startups face from regulators if they fail to protect their users’ privacy. Regulators like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Consumer Financial […]
A great estate plan is like a business plan for yourself and those most important to you. Just as a business plan is a road map to long-term success, an estate plan is a road map to achieving peace of mind for your family and perhaps even your business partners. As we have heard many times before, there is no escaping death and taxes, so we might as well plan for both. And yet, when we work with founders, we often find that they are so consumed with running their businesses that their estate plans—their “personal” business plans—are in disarray or nonexistent. Below are a few pointers to help you begin to chart a course in estate planning.
One of the first steps in forming a startup, even before any documents are drafted or signed, is creating a capitalization or “cap.” table illustrating the ownership of the company. As companies grow and issue more stock to raise capital or compensate employees, their cap. tables can […]
In a previous Founder Tip of the Week, I discussed what vesting is. In this Founder Tip of the Week, I will discuss some common vesting schemes. Employees The norm for options granted to employees is that they vest ratably monthly over four years.
When starting a new company, it’s easy to focus entirely on the business you are building, but it’s also important to make sure that you see the big picture . Here are three areas to keep covered…
In a prior Founder Tip of the Week we discussed how the Internal Revenue Code (the “Tax Code”) characterizes unvested founder stock as not being purchased until it has vested, and that this characterization can have adverse tax consequences for the founder because the Tax Code treats as taxable income the excess, if any, of the fair market value of stock at the time it vests over the purchase price of the stock (the “spread”).
A new Delaware law, signed on July 17 by Gov. Jack Markell, allows companies to be formed as public benefit corporations (PBCs), which balance stockholders’ returns, the impact on other people affected by a company’s business activities, and the creation of an overall public benefit. Starting on August 1, Delaware companies will be able to form or reincorporate as PBCs, or merge with PBCs.
