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May 30, 2007
The Dilution Specialists
Skype's angels and founders equity story is pretty amazing, as this graphic suggests. We snagged it from Equity Fingerprint a UK-based consulting company. Its site is worth a visit, even if it is just to ponder the many ways that the control of a tech company can go (as the thumbnails below suggest).
We have not met the people behind Equity Fingerprint but Robert Scoble's video interview with the firm's founder and principle, Philip Baddeley, suggests that startups get advice on managing equity in exchange for giving him a chance to invest, or in exchange for some shares, which seems fair. The sexy graphics it produces are more of a calling card than a product, it seems.
We like Baddeley's focus on equity. His pitch is that it might seem obvious and unecessary to make such a big fuss about a founding team's stake in the company - but talking about it and thinking about it will reveal a lot about how your business could evolve and what kind of entrepreneur you are - he calls it lifestyle vs tycoon.
Getting the equity thing right is often neglected. We've met enough demotivated founders, pissed off angels, and VC-haters over the years to vouch for that notion.
View Equity Fingerprint
Posted on May 30, 2007 06:08 AM | Posted to Early stage | Permalink
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