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A Startup's financial health isn't just about updating financial statements and balance sheets — it's about understanding basic business financials, and guess what? It's not that hard. This primer is designed for Founders and operators who know little to nothing about startup financials.

Intro: The Basics of Startup Finance

The fundamentals of startup finance are this simple – we record every income item (our goods sold) on one side and then record every cost (operating expenses) on the other side of our financial statements. We subtract the income from the costs – and voila! – profit (or a loss... in the early days it’s usually a loss.)

There’s no special black magic to recording income and expenses.

We don't need Complex Accounting Software (...

No matter how much we stand to lose, there is always a way to recover.

At the time it sure doesn't feel that way. Nothing keeps us up at night more than playing out every possible scenario of catastrophic outcomes for our startup. We think about the cost of losing our startup, our team, our investor's trust, and ultimately, our personal well-being.

And yes, all of this is super terrifying. But here's the thing, Founders have an amazing ability to recover from catastrophic losses because, in the end, we never consider the fact that the one thing we can't lose is our own tenacity.

It's important to think beyond the "monster in the corner" and play out the entire scenario of what a big loss means, looking all the way past to the other side of ...

Welcome to our four-part Splitting Equity Series. This is our Introductory piece and will continue to be split up into four phases:

Introduction - Early Startup Equity — Getting it Right ( ←YOU ARE HERE 😀)

• Phase One - Startup Equity - Avoiding Early Mistakes 

• Phase Two - How Startup Equity Works

• Phase Three - How to Split Equity

• Phase Four - Equity Management

We are excited to guide you through your equity-splitting experience. Let's dive in!

We’re going to identify and isolate each of the key issues in splitting startup equity in a young company.  Then one by one we will lay out which options are available, how most startups address this problem, and what key decisions the team will need to make to split the founder equity fairly and ma...

Welcome to Phase Four of a four-part Splitting Equity Series. If you missed it, start your journey here: Introduction - Early Startup Equity — Getting it Right before continuing on if you haven’t already, and go in order from there.

Phase One - Startup Equity - Avoiding Early Mistakes 

Phase Two - How Startup Equity Works 

Phase Three - How to Split Equity

Phase Four -  Part 1 - Equity Management 

• Part 2 - Recovering Startup Equity ( ←YOU ARE HERE 😀)

Let's do this!

When it comes to startup equity distribution, giving away a startup's equity is easy. How much equity do we get back? Well, that's a different story altogether!

An "equity clawback" is designed for early-stage startups to essentially reverse an equity grant based on a...

Welcome to Phase Three of a four-part Splitting Equity Series. If you missed it, start your journey here: Introduction - Early Startup Equity — Getting it Right before continuing on if you haven’t already, and go in order from there.

Phase One - Startup Equity - Avoiding Early Mistakes 

Phase Two - How Startup Equity Works 

Phase Three - Part 1 - How to Split Equity 

• Part 2 - Splitting Equity Today 

• Part 3 - Splitting Equity in the Future ( ←YOU ARE HERE 😀)

• Part 4 - Calculating Startup Equity Splits + FAQ

Phase Four - Equity Management

Let's continue!

Founder equity splits rarely turn out to be what we hoped they would be after Year 1. The co-founders at startup companies start off with the best intentions, but as the business ve...

Welcome to Phase Three of a four-part Splitting Equity Series. If you missed it, start your journey here: Introduction - Early Startup Equity — Getting it Right before continuing on if you haven’t already, and go in order from there.

Phase One - Startup Equity - Avoiding Early Mistakes 

Phase Two - How Startup Equity Works 

Phase Three - Part 1 - How to Split Equity 

• Part 2 - Splitting Equity Today ( ←YOU ARE HERE 😀)

• Part 3 - Splitting Equity in the Future

• Part 4 - Calculating Startup Equity Splits + FAQ

Phase Four - Equity Management

Let's continue!

Startup founders have been trying to figure out a fair equity split for the founding team since the dawn of time. Sadly, dividing equity between each co-founder tends to be one of the big...

Running a startup is a ton of work as a solo Founder, so much so that many Founders find themselves at a loss trying to get everything done. For those that are non-technical, this proves to be a challenge, as coding is essential in this day and age, so bringing on a technical co-founder is a must. This is also true for technical Founders missing the mark on the creative front, so it's no surprise that one of the most searched terms on the internet is "finding a cofounder."

It seems like it should be easy — find a co-founder (or more) that aligns with your startup idea, mission, and has the complementary skills to do all the things you don't know how to — but it's not that simple. Finding the right co-founder is a complex combination of ...

Continuing in Phase Three of a four-part Funding Series:

Phase One - Structuring a Fundraise

Phase Two - Investor Selection

Phase Three - The Pitch

• Part 1 - Anatomy of a Pitch 

• Part 2 - Market Size 

• Part 3 - Revenue Model 

• Part 4 - Operating Model 

• Part 5 - Customer Definition 

• Part 6 - Customer Acquisition 

• Part 7 - Funding 

• Part 8 - Key Pitch Assets 

• Part 9 - Traction ( ←YOU ARE HERE 😀)

Phase Four - Investor Outreach

Let’s dive in!

Startup Traction is your opportunity to tell investors how far you've taken the business up until this point. Just having a great idea is wonderful, but generating traction is what truly differentiates you from the pack. Especially in the early days, the only thing better than trac...

Continuing in Phase Three of a four-part Funding Series:

Phase One - Structuring a Fundraise

Phase Two - Investor Selection

Phase Three - The Pitch

• Part 1 - Anatomy of a Pitch 

• Part 2 - Market Size 

• Part 3 - Revenue Model 

• Part 4 - Operating Model 

• Part 5 - Customer Definition 

• Part 6 - Customer Acquisition 

• Part 7 - Funding 

• Part 8 - Key Pitch Assets ( ←YOU ARE HERE 😀)

• Part 9 - Traction 

Phase Four - Investor Outreach

Let's dive in!

Our investor pitch deck is just one of a handful of assets we need to have prepared for potential investors. A compelling startup pitch deck is just part of the package — if we're going to raise money and impress investors we'll need to prepare everything from our elevator pitch to our ...

Starting a company is downright difficult and anyone that has done it before will tell you that is an understatement. What they also might mention is in our day and age, Founders don't have to jump off the proverbial cliff head first without a parachute anymore.

The world of podcasting has opened a door into the minds and experiences of many thought leaders and seasoned Founders that offer a "tell-all" experience into their startup-building journey. It's like getting first-hand mentorship without paying a dime, and with the number of entrepreneur podcasts increasing in recent years, there's no shortage of information to take advantage of.

For startup founders embarking on the entrepreneurial journey for the first time, or even for the serial ...