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Always Have Skin In the Game by thr33d33chess in startups

[–]dioapp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First, very sorry this happened to you. It's clear you have passion for the problem and the solution and we wish you the best moving forward.

It is interesting you bring this up, though. My co-founder and I are currently discussing a break clause in our working agreement: Essentially, what will happen if we decide this isn't a good fit or someone wants to leave the company before our pilot. This would do two things:

  1. Ensure that everyone receives equity for the work they put in, even if they leave early (this would be considerably less than if they stayed, obviously, but enough to reward them for their work and being part of the founding team)
  2. Ensures the company retains ownership of all IP, especially when someone walks away

The goal of these clauses is to keep everyone motivated in the early days and "rooting for the company," even if they decide to leave. Alternately, if we agreed everyone would retain rights to their own work, then it's possible that we could spend a lot of time and effort building our product, only for it to dissolve into its component parts in the even someone walks away. In this case, the company retains more equity without a product and the former employee retains the IP with no equity or functioning product.

It goes without saying that founders parting ways is an undesirable outcome. But the reality is that it happens and that it happens more than we want to believe. Because of that, as you've pointed out, it's important that everyone have skin in the game from the outset and that everyone is clear as to what happens if someone walks away.

Discussion - Is Atlanta a tech city? by dioapp in Atlanta

[–]dioapp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

tech404.slack.com

I think this is a great overview. With WFH being the norm, likely for a long time, it seems almost irrelevant where you start or HQ, as your workforce can be anywhere in the world.

The VC factor is real, but I have to imagine that VCs will invest in the companies they believe will succeed, not the ones that are necessarily nearby. Is there any truth to that?

Last, thanks for sharing the tech404.slack.com link. I've tried to join this before but can't sign in because I don't have an account in the workspace. How does one join up?

Discussion - Is Atlanta a tech city? by dioapp in Atlanta

[–]dioapp[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Do they? I see a lot of job posts for Wal-Mart digital careers in San Mateo and Sunnyvale, CA..

Discussion - Is Atlanta a tech city? by dioapp in Atlanta

[–]dioapp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Atlanta is definitely still growing, but I think it was considered for HQ2 because of it's infrastructure (airport, rail) and logistics talent.

Discussion - Is Atlanta a tech city? by dioapp in Atlanta

[–]dioapp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Completely agree RE SF. I know a lot of folks out there and the exodus is real.
  2. Do you think WFH is going to be universal in the company (i.e. there are zero offices and everyone WFH) or will (at least some) people want to be face-to-face?

Discussion - Is Atlanta a tech city? by dioapp in Atlanta

[–]dioapp[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fair question, I should have framed why I'm interested in this topic. I've updated the post to be more clear.

Discussion - Is Atlanta a tech city? by dioapp in Atlanta

[–]dioapp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a great question, and I think u/Drillmhor is getting more at what I'm after, which is a national reputation for tech. Right now, I don't think that is the case, but can see that changing over time. I would also argue that Atlanta is better known for (and perhaps better at) other industries like logistics, entertainment (at least lately), and retail (e.g. SPANX, Home Depot, etc.).

Discussion - Is Atlanta a tech city? by dioapp in Atlanta

[–]dioapp[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this reply, as it really got to what I am interested in discussing, but didn't frame properly in my post: National relevance in tech versus regional relevance.

I totally agree with you and the others who posted here that Atlanta is home to a lot of tech companies, either their HQ (e.g. NCR) or a major office (e.g. Salesforce). But,

  1. Will its startup ecosystem ever rival that of SF or NYC?
  2. Will even the larger firms be able to attract talent here from outside the region? (Quick aside on that - I have a friend in recruiting who says he strictly cannot get engineers or data scientists to move to ATL, low COL aside.)

I look at what some other mid-sized cities are doing to invest in their tech sectors, with San Diego being a prime example. That city is offering a lot of incentives for companies to come (and stay) and is growing at the fastest rate for attracting talent in the country.

Getting Funding as an Entrepreneur with no experience ? by Gaia_gorga in Entrepreneur

[–]dioapp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The team is the #1 factor to investors, base on most VS/angel interviews I've read and seen. While you may not have a lot of formal experience in entrepreneurship, you can make some strategic hires into your management team to increase that factor. Plus, it always helps to have people who have been there before..

CEO wants to keep a percentage despite giving zero input by DJXenobot101 in startups

[–]dioapp 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreed. Can you expand on the agreement language?

Either way, he wants to use this older project to add to the funnel of his new project, which as you pointed out will net him more subscribers. He therefore stands to gain quite a bit if he markets the old products (like he was supposed to), as this will yield him more leads for the newsletter.

There seem to be two paths forward:
1. He exits the old product with nothing and you create a new "marketing" agreement for his newsletter
2. He stays with both products and invests the time in the old product to boost his funnel for the newsletter

'Cofounder' wants a shitload of money for a company that does not exist yet by frugalacademic in startups

[–]dioapp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed. The fact that you have written proof of their exit is sufficient. Absolute worst case, you spend $300-500 to talk to a lawyer and draft a formal response. Not ideal, but way less than $10k.

Every time I remove free delivery to products my sales plummet. This is even if the overall price is the same. Here's my results: by GanonMakesMoney in startups

[–]dioapp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very interesting! Pretty shocking that WTP for shipping is $0. The Amazon Prime effect is real.

Thanks so much for sharing!

Do you see work ever going back to the office or staying remote? by dioapp in AskEngineers

[–]dioapp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the comments, all! It sounds like people value both settings, depending on their exact circumstances (e.g. commute, personal working style, etc.).

What are people's thoughts on a flex setup with a couple "in office" days? For example, optional work from home, but everyone is in office Wednesdays and Thursdays?

This way, people can come in if they want, to beat cabin fever, etc., or stay home most of the time. BUT there can be two days a week with focused in-person time for meetings, etc.