COMMENTS
Man, what a pile of great work. I actually abandoned my nightly post and just pointed back at this. Thanks for all that good work.
-OT
Thx for your posts. I am in the process of starting a software startup. I have been developing the product for a few months now. I have 2 volunteers to help me out now. Since I cannot pay them, I want to give them options or some profict sharing eventually. What kind of company to start and how would I value my company and how many shares to give out ? I have googled this with not much luck. Any hints appreciated.
Thx
-- pady
Nice list, thanks. On topic that concerns me right now is the recruiting strategy to get from founder #1 to small team. I realize there are many ways to skin this cat, but I also don't want to reinvent anything I don't have to.
PS to Pady: It's a negotiation... and it depends on many, many factors. All this probably should have been taken care of BEFORE they started doing any work for you. As it is now, they might have ownership rights and even co-founder-type rights. You need to nail this and nail it now. See the VC blogs. See this, for example:
http://www.venturehacks.com/articles/option-pool-shuffle#market
I would love to see some more tales and topics of actually working with customers... in the sense that you need to talk to potential customers and understand their needs BEFORE you build your new widget, not after its done and you're striving for revenue.
I find it interesting that the politicians are seeking "simulus packages" instead of encouraging and promoting entrepreneurship and creativity. Nice wok on this post, thanks.