Underdog’s Post

💣 5 biggest problems for early-stage founders that can demolish your company 💣 5️⃣ DEAD COFOUNDER EQUITY “Chad owns 15% of the company” ➜ Is he still active as CXO? “No we haven’t seen him in like 8 months” 🤦♂️ 4️⃣ USELESS ADVISORS OWN TOO MUCH “We gave Advisor Bob 1.5%” ➜ And is he continuing advising the company? “No we did like 3 Zooms with him, now he’s 👻” 😖 3️⃣ YOU DON'T OWN YOUR IP “We almost have our IP license from University XYZ” ➜ …and how much equity will you be giving up? “None! Just 6.5% of Gross Revenue” 👀 2️⃣ FORGETTING ABOUT THE EMPLOYEE POOL “After we close our Seed, we’ll still be in control @ 59%” ➜ You included the 10% option pool, right? “Umm…” ➜ It comes out of YOUR share! 🔴 😬 1️⃣ NOT UNDERSTANDING HOW SAFES CONVERT “So we have 3 different SAFEs” ➜ How much total? “Only $5,000,000” (does math) -You know they’re about to convert for 30% right? 😫 Faced these problems? Share your story 👇

The Drake equation [1] presents a probabilistic framework to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations within the Milky Way galaxy. It factors in variables such as the rate of star formation, the fraction of stars with planetary systems, the number of planets capable of supporting life, and the probability of life emerging on those planets. Ultimately, it illustrates how a sequence of seemingly improbable events can converge to create extraordinary outcomes. In many ways, building a successful startup mirrors this equation. The path from inception to becoming an industry leader is filled with daunting challenges, and yet, with the right combination of vision, execution, and talent, a startup can emerge as one of the few "habitable" entities in a competitive ecosystem. Among those, only a select few will truly evolve into sustainable, thriving organizations — those that will "hold life." Now, we're looking for engineers who are excited about helping grow our "planet" into a thriving, life-sustaining force in the tech universe. Join us as we expand and conquer new frontiers. https://lnkd.in/gPuQ3mFQ [1] https://lnkd.in/gpw9aaY8

I never post on LinkedIn, but following my co-founder Joel's recent post, I thought this is the perfect time to start. Two years ago, I stepped away from my role on the investment side of PE to help drive change and improve how PE operates. The mission is clear: to get rid of inefficient, time-consuming deal admin that detracts from the ultimate goal of every PE firm which is to hunt for (and win!) deals and create value. You can expect updates relevant for PE professionals. Joel (with his background as a Partner at K&E) will naturally be posting more about the legal aspects of PE. This mirrors how Dealstack aims to delight both PE professionals and their lawyers. A little bit about me: I’m Seb, COO and co-founder of Dealstack, a software platform which helps to manage ownership, cap tables and values in PE holding structures. My background: - I spent over a decade as an investment professional at Oaktree and Triton. - During those years I analysed hundreds of deals and worked closely with many companies across Europe and the US, spanning different sectors and investment theses. This has given me plenty of first hand experience (along with a fair dose of frustration) of the challenges that PE professionals and their legal teams face, both in deal execution and ongoing portfolio management. Here’s what you can expect from my posts: - How tech can supercharge investment professionals day-to-day. - Thoughts on the future of private equity deal processes. - Updates on how Dealstack is transforming workflows for PE funds and their advisors. If you’re in this space or just curious to hear more, I’d love to connect. #PEtech #Legaltech #Privateequity #Dealstack #Innovation #Investment

Exciting update – I have joined @True Search as a partner in their Financial Officers practice. I am excited to align my passion for connecting the dots and leveraging True’s global brand and technology-enabled platform to build world-class leadership teams. #ExecutiveSearch #Leadership #FinancialServices #Fintech

One thing in the life of the founders nobody talks about. (repetitiveness) - Monday’s admin day.  - Tuesdays trading meetings. - Wednesday site visits with the team… Unless, you know your goal and the roadmap to get there, the life of the founder is pretty much boring. When we were growing our company, it was mostly grow-grow-grow. All our focus was on opening more sites. As fast as we could. No roadmap, no exit strategy. The raw energy of an inexperienced and determined founder 🔥 Then we invested heavily to grow more. Our EBITDA dived. … and that’s when we exited. It was all reactive impulse decision-making. Look, I am not complaining. The exit was great. I am just looking back - what is the one thing I would do differently? A clear exit strategy is the answer. ——— From idea to exit – I’ve been there and done that! Pitching, funding, launching, scaling, waving goodbye – I’ve seen it all. DM me for a FREE 1:1 chat to help you do the same.

Something I wish I had back when I was a startup founder... When you're juggling being a CEO, CMO, CFO, COO (you get the point)– things like filing with Companies House always seem to get left to the bottom of the pile. But as many founders know, missing a filing can lead to more than just admin headaches: penalties, delays, and even worse – investment deals falling apart at due diligence. That's where Vestd's seamless integration with Companies House is an absolute game-changer. 🎯 With Vestd, you can say goodbye to the hassle of making updates on platform and then handling filings separately. Our API automates the entire process, from document generation to submission, even covering the fee. This allows you to focus on what you do best: building and growing your business while we take care of things in the background. Oh, and did I mention we're FCA-regulated? So you can sleep like a baby knowing your company is in safe hands 🛌 💤

I recently dived into "Secrets of Sand Hill Road" 📚by Scott Kupor and it was packed with valuable insights. My top three takeaways: 1️⃣💪Term Sheets: More Than Just Valuation It's crucial to understand the power dynamics in term sheets. Control terms like board seats, voting rights, and liquidation preferences can impact a company's future more than the headline valuation. Knowing this can help in negotiating better deals. Market Timing Matters 2️⃣⏱️Timing can make or break a product. A great product in a small market may struggle, while a good product in a booming market can thrive. It's all about assessing market readiness and striking at the right moment. 3️⃣📊Data-Driven Decisions Successful venture capital relies heavily on data, from financial metrics to customer feedback and market trends. Making informed decisions based on data is key to evaluating and guiding startups effectively. Excited to apply these learnings! #VentureCapital #SecretsOfSandHillRoad #DataDriven #MarketTiming #TermSheets

Investors who haven’t operated before, should refrain from advising on business building. Particularly around GTM. They've never bled through the gruelling process of taking a piece of software thru to product-market fit. Would you take flight lessons from anybody but a pilot? Here's the truth: nobody knows your company better than you. Of course, listen to advice from mature founders, mentors, advisors, and VCs. But, they need to have operated before. Even better, if they’ve operated in the same space. And when you sense BS, don't be afraid to trust your gut. This one is worth repeating. Do not be afraid to trust your gut. You're building something new, they're investing in it. So today’s headline? Listen to those who have relevant first-hand experience. Listen to those that have actually crawled through the mud. The greats in VC advise in lanes where they have the expertise. Where they have battle-scars. And they augment with resources where they don’t. But always, dear founders, always, always, always, trust your gut. Make moves when your hearts in it. Happy Monday, ya’ll.

If you need to get a shareholders' resolution passed and it's driving you nuts, I will give you a fynk account for free. It took me much longer to create the image for this post than it did to get our 2025 budget approved by all shareholders. 💀 Shareholders' resolutions used to be a nightmare for me. Getting everyone to sign, remotely, on a document with appendices etc. etc. felt like a Herculean task. From different versions flying around, over me having to change recipients and signatories, to people sending me their signature on OLD versions. Even writing this makes me mad. But now, I’m in a position to solve my own problems by building features directly into my tool 😈 In the past few weeks, I’ve had to get three different shareholder resolutions signed. And I know I’m not alone. Every startup founder I know goes through getting the annual budget approved, discharging management, signing off on the financial statement, etc. If your startup has received VC funding, there is a high chance that you have a list of "Reserved Matters". They will require some form of formal decision. Fear not. I’ve got you covered. If you need to get a shareholder resolution signed, I promise you an in-person call with someone on our team. You will get a full month to test the tool and get your resolution signed - no strings attached. 📨 DM me, and let’s save you some time. Because you deserve to focus on the tasks no tool can do for you.