Startup equity Whether you’re joining an early-stage startup, with seed funding or a startup that’s already raised big chunks of venture capital, it’s important to know the (at the very least) basics of equity. Most startups will offer equity as part of the compensation package, coming in the form of stock options that allow you […]
An Intro Into Startup Equity: 5 Things To Consider
Startup equity
Whether you’re joining an early-stage startup, with seed funding or a startup that’s already raised big chunks of venture capital, it’s important to know the (at the very least) basics of equity. Most startups will offer equity as part of the compensation package, coming in the form of stock options that allow you to buy shares at a prearranged price in the future.
1. Majority of startups never reach the market
You must keep in mind that a startups chances of succeeding are low, even if the idea/product is great there are often external factors at play that cause the failure. If a startup goes bankrupt whatever equity you had becomes worth nothing.
Do your own research into the company, every kid sounds perfect when described by their parent. Look into the company and its product, do you think this is something that can be successful.
2. Understand what equity is and how it works.
Option: You will be given the option to purchase the shares at a certain price that won’t change.
Vested: You will be given the share but will have to work for X amount of time to unlock the rights to it.
3. Ask questions.
Unless you are applying for a very high-up role, chances are you won’t be able to negotiate for anything other than the number of shares. Even so, you should be asking questions such as.
What is the value now?
Is there an exit strategy?
What is the timeframe?
Do they have a value estimation when the exit happens?
How much of the company do you own with your shares?
Can you sell your shares, and what is the process if you leave?
4. With the previous points in mind and it’s time to negotiate, remember that your salary is what you are living off right now. A potentially large pay-out in 5 years will not pay your rent today. Make sure you are not giving up a large amount of salary for a maybe payment later down the road.
5. Negotiating.
You do not have to tell them what you are currently making or what you made in your previous role. Instead, ask them what range they have in mind for the role.
Research, research, and research. Know what the going rate is for your skillset, what could you be making elsewhere. Ideally, you’ll be in discussions with other companies as well and can give them an indication of what you could get there.
Come in with a plan, have a minimum salary and salary/equity value in mind before you sit down at the negotiation table. It makes it easier to draw the line during the talks. Know what is more important to you.
Remember that you are there for a reason if you’ve got far enough to be discussing equity, they value your skillset. Keep that in mind when negotiating and understand you are there to bring value to the company and should be compensated accordingly.
Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more […]
Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more about their goals and ambitions, what the future holds and (for all you startup jobseekers out there looking for the inside scoop) what they look for in a prospective employee.
This week we talked to Rikke and Pippa from Borrow My Doggy a fantastic service uniting people without dogs with people that have dogs and need help. They have made life much more bearable during lockdown for so many people.
Tell us about BorrowMyDoggy!
BorrowMyDoggy is an online community that connects dog owners with local, trusted do borrowers who are happy to help take care of a pooch for walks, weekends and holidays.
We operate across the UK and Ireland
with thousands of new members joining every week. When an owner shares their
dog with a local borrower, it’s a win-win (or woof-woof) situation for
everyone involved:
● Owners have peace of mind that their
dog is well taken care of by a trusted borrower
● Borrowers get to enjoy happy doggy
time, which they otherwise wouldn’t have
● Dogs enjoy extra exercise, spend less
time alone and most importantly receive more love and affection.
How did it all start and what are your goals?
I came up with the idea for BorrowMyDoggy in 2012 when I was looking after my neighbour’s beautiful chocolate Labrador for the day. While enjoying my day with Aston, I thought “there should be a website where dog owners can have their dogs taken care of by people who absolutely adore dogs and miss having a dog in their life.”
All owners need to be away from their
pooches sometimes, and there’s often no need to pay for a dog walker when there
are lots of people, just like me, who adore dogs but unfortunately can’t have
them (due to work, travel etc.), who would love to take care of a dog for free.
In addition to this, it would allow owners and doggies to get to know more
people locally and spread lots of happiness.
Our aim is to leave ‘Pawprints of
Happiness’ on the lives of dogs and people by building local communities where
dog-lovers give a helping hand taking care of local pooches, simply because
they love dogs.
Rikke and Elvis
What are your values as an ambitious startup?
Our values are focused around being
fun, happy, caring and thankful. Our community is at the centre of everything
we do at BorrowMyDoggy. We wouldn’t exist without our lovely members and it’s
thanks to their feedback, requests and recommendations that the site has
evolved in the way it has.
With your current knowledge and what you’ve learnt
so far, is there any advice would you give yourself back when you were just
getting started?
You have to be passionate about what
you do and believe in the difference that you can make. As an entrepreneur
setting up a brand new business, there is so much to learn so just embrace the
fact that there will be lots of things that you don’t know and be open to
asking questions. Also, always listen to your customers and only develop
something that they will love to use. Finally, take an active part in the
startup community, which is incredibly inspiring, and always help others
whenever you can.
What is next for BorrowMyDoggy and what are the
goals for 2021?
At the moment we are focusing on making
BorrowMyDoggy the best it can be for our existing members in the UK and Ireland.
Last year we saw the launch of a new app, which we continue to work our tails
off on in 2021. We would love to help make a positive difference to as many
dogs’ and people’s lives as possible.
The pandemic has obviously affected a lot of
startups both in positive and negative ways, how have you guys dealt with it?
We have been truly ast-hound-ed (as we
like to say) by how the BorrowMyDoggy community has pulled together during the
pandemic. In the height of the pandemic in 2020 we made the decision to
recommend borrowers and owners stop meeting to help reduce the spread of the
virus. However we still saw wonderful acts of kindness from our members – from
fetching groceries and medication for one another, and borrowers walking dogs
for owners that were shielding or vulnerable, to borrowers temporarily rehoming
dogs for owners too.
Here’s most wonderful feedback we received from a BorrowMyDoggy owner
“I want to publicly thank my wonderful dog borrower María who has gone way beyond taking Purdey for her exercise while I’m in complete isolation and brought supplies and prescriptions not because I’ve asked but because she has offered unsolicited. There is some connection between dog/animal lovers and generosity of spirit. BorrowMyDoggy has brought such a caring group of people together with its organisation. Thank you.”
As the nation still faces the COVID pandemic we are still advising our community to be responsible and follow their local government guidelines, to ensure that everyone stays safe and minimises the spread of the virus.
We at Work In Startups believe that everyone should get paid for their work, regardless of age, experience, or any other factor. As more and more people get university degrees, the competition for entry-level jobs becomes tougher. Everyone is looking for something that puts them ahead of their competition, and the biggest advantage is having […]
We at Work In Startups believe that everyone should get paid for their work, regardless of age, experience, or any other factor.
As more and more people get university degrees, the competition for entry-level jobs becomes tougher. Everyone is looking for something that puts them ahead of their competition, and the biggest advantage is having experience. Getting said experience can be difficult though, as companies will naturally select the person with more experience. Creating a weird paradox of needing the experience to get experience, but you can’t get experience because you have no experience.
This desperate need for experience by fresh graduates is something companies have started to take advantage of. Offering unpaid internships because the employee gets valuable experience. Unpaid internships that are more than just shadowing or part of the intern’s studies, qualify the intern as a worker and must be paid at least minimum wage.
Experience is invaluable for people new to the job market, but unfortunately, it doesn’t pay anyone’s rent. It’s not right to expect someone to either live with their parents or hold down a second job next to your full-time job. This will also automatically exclude a large portion of the population as only a small demographic is in a position to complete an unpaid internship. And lastly how much effort can you expect from someone that isn’t getting paid?
If your company is in a place where you can’t afford to pay anyone a salary, maybe you shouldn’t be hiring just yet. There is no shame in taking it slow and building strong foundations before you start hiring people. Taking on an intern will require both time and effort from your side on teaching and guiding them through everything they need to learn.
However, there is a way that benefits both the startup and intern. The 16-24 age group has historically been the one struggling the most with unemployment, the pandemic hasn’t done them any favors in that aspect. The government is looking to fight that via their Kickstart Scheme. Adzuna’s co-founder Andrew Hunter wrote an article explaining the scheme and how it has changed since its first iteration.
If you have the skills, knowledge, and time required to properly train someone, this is a great way for a startup to get extra hands-on board without incurring extra costs.
Do Nation is our third subject in our new sustainability series where we will be talking to startups focused on a greener future. We asked Hermione Taylor who co-founded the company with Martin Warne some questions. Tell us about Do Nation! How did it all start and what are your goals? Well, Do Nation is […]
Do Nationis our third subject in our new sustainability series where we will be talking to startups focused on a greener future. We asked Hermione Taylor who co-founded the company with Martin Warne some questions.
Tell us about Do Nation! How did it all start and what are your goals?
Well, Do Nation is here to help people form healthy, environmentally
friendly habits. We do this through an online platform where anyone can either
make a pledge or run a campaign to raise pledges – pledges to do things like
cycling to work, wasting less food, or avoiding unsustainable palm oil.
It all started way back in 2009 when I was writing a Masters thesis on
the role of pledging on driving environmental behaviour change. Quite niche.
At the same time, I was planning a big cycle ride from London to Morocco, and decided that rather than asking friends to sponsor us by donating cash to an environmental charity, it’d be way more impactful to ask them to pledge to take action instead.
And so Do Nation was born.
For several years, we focused on offering a platform that anyone could
use to raise support for their own challenges or events, asking their friends
to ‘donate by doing’. However, we soon learned that we could have far greater
impact (and earn some much needed income!) through working with businesses –
opening up our platform for them to use with their employees, helping them to
actively engage employees in sustainability and climate action.
It’s been a total roller coaster of a journey, but after years of
banging loudly on closed doors we’re finally finding the world has woken up to
the importance of climate action and the game has totally changed.
We’re now working on a bold new project looking to encourage 1 billion people to take climate action by 2030. Yep, you read that right. One billion.
Hermione Taylor
How are you engaging your employees in your sustainability efforts?
Ha, great question!
Our bread and butter is helping other
companies to engage their employees in sustainability – from innocent drinks to
Siemens Plc; HelloFresh to Automattic. That’s what we’re known for.
But this question has made me realise that
as our team grows, we should do more to make sure our own employees are leading
the way in their own lives! Noted.
Having said that, we do have several pioneering policies in place – we were one of the first to sign up to Climate Perks, whereby we earn an extra day’s annual leave by picking slow travel options over flying (when travel is allowed again…), and we have a very environmentally focused office stewardship policy.
Do you set any goals for improvement and aid to make yourself more sustainable?
Yep – we set an ambitious target last year to reduce our own team’s carbon emissions to 1 tonne of CO2 for every 1,000 tonnes CO2 that we help our users to save.
AKANet Zero x 1000.
We’ll achieve that in two main ways: firstly, by reducing the carbon footprint of our website (i.e. making it far more user friendly, and shifting to carbon neutral servers); and secondly by vastly increasing our user numbers.
Martin Warne
What tips could you give other startup businesses to promote sustainability and have sustainability at their forefront?
It may not seem like a top priority
when you have 101 other things to be doing, all at 100 mph, as any start-up
does. However, getting environmental policies and processes set up right when
you’re small is far easier than leaving it until you’ve grown and systems and
cultures are embedded.
You’ll likely have employees who are passionate about sustainability – let them put that passion to good use, give them responsibility for setting up a green team or leading your Net Zero Taskforce. There are lots of great guides out there to help them along, this list from the B Corp Climate Collective is particularly handy.
What have been your biggest challenges that have come exclusively from starting a green business?
For years, the challenge was simple: earning income. There was no
shortage of people and businesses wanting to promote climate action and support
our work – they just didn’t want to put any budget towards it.
Thankfully Martin and I were stubborn and optimistic though, and we found ways to bootstrap and muddle through. And now the economics of climate action have shifted heavily, and now the challenge is quite the opposite: keeping up with demand! Hence why we’re recruiting…
A Do Nation Zoom call!
The pandemic has obviously affected a lot of startups both in positive and negative ways, how have you guys dealt with it?
We’ve been a fully remote team for
years. When the pandemic hit, we were a team of four working remotely from
Scotland, England, France, and Austria. That, combined with having a purely
digital product, meant that we escaped lightly.
However, our service isn’t exactly
business critical, and so we soon felt the squeeze thanks to clients deciding
to ‘wait out the uncertainty’. But after a few months it came clear that that waiting
wasn’t an option, the interest began to boom again.
For all the s**t it’s created, one good
thing the pandemic has done is its woken people up to the importance of
listening to science. And as a result, more people are taking action to avert a
true climate crisis than ever before, with stronger resolve and determination
than I’ve ever seen.
Having been battling this ground for
over 10 years, building up a strong reputation in the sustainable business
world, we were in a great position to grasp this market opportunity. Our team
has grown by 300% in the last 6 months, and expect to double in size again over
the coming 6 months.
It’s been exhausting, but you won’t catch me complaining…
We talked to Alex Dyer the founder of Tutor House and asked him some question about the company. And how customers have been adjusting to the pandemic. Tell us about Tutor House! How did it all start and what are your goals? My background is a Psychology Teacher. I was Head of Psychology for 8 […]
We talked to Alex Dyer the founder of Tutor House and asked him some question about the company. And how customers have been adjusting to the pandemic.
Tell us about Tutor House! How did it all start and what are your goals?
My background is a Psychology Teacher. I was Head of Psychology for 8 years at a leading London school. Being a teacher and a psychologist I didn’t, understandably, get invited to many parties and so I had time to focus on starting a business. Tutor House started in 2013 after I saw firsthand the benefits of one-to-one tutoring. There is no comparison to learning in a group of 30 kids versus learning with a tutor and/or mentor in a one on one environment. In that environment you flourish. The aim was, and still is, to make tutoring accessible and beneficial for everyone.
What are your values as an ambitious startup?
Integrity, virtue and taking responsibility. We work hard to be an honest, trustworthy platform that our customers and tutors can rely on. We also have high standards, and make sure that our platform only represents highly qualified, experienced and DBS checked tutors.
With your current knowledge and what you’ve learnt so far, is there any advice would you give yourself back when you were just getting started?
Don’t do it! I really get the statistic that ‘90% of businesses fail in the first year.’ It’s hard work. But not only that it’s lonely, frustrating and constantly reactive. All this can lead to huge amounts of stress, as well I know. So the main thing that I would tell myself, and of course advise others, is don’t do it alone but find one or two business partners. Have a goal and strategy and stick to it and get in a routine, which should include work but also self-focus and time out. (And don’t feel bad about taking time out – you’re working a 70 hour+ week!)
What is next for Tutor House and what are the goals for 2021?
We’ve grown year on year for 7 years now and we are going to continue to do that. The horrible last year has allowed us to focus on ‘the bigger picture’ in education. For us that means that learning and academia should not just be about passing a maths exam but also helping people to grow in confidence, to motivate them and to focus on life skills. We work with many partners and hundreds of amazing tutors to make sure that kids benefit from tutoring, but also understand mental health and how important it is to us all. Stress leads to clouded thinking, reduced learning and poor decision making; we’re working to help reduce that in students, children and adult learners.
The pandemic has obviously affected a lot of startups both in positive and negative ways, how have you guys been affected?
It’s definitely been a bit of both. When schools closed last year in April, people were scared and finding a tutor was not at the front of their mind. But now parents are taking matters into their own hands. They’re not relying on the government or schools but are turning to tutors to support their children, which makes sense. Yes it’s a cost, but some children will miss a year of school or at best watch pre-recorded videos online. The worst way to learn! So we have halved our entry price for hourly tutoring so it’s affordable for everyone.
Did it change your customers’ requirements in anyways? Anything that surprised you?
We’ve seen a big drive in homeschooling and long term tutoring, which I guess isn’t a huge surprise. What will be interesting is to see how many customers continue homeschooling and hiring tutors to help with this once schools reopen.
Because of the pandemic we are 100% online tutoring only, but a huge amount of people want to return to in person tutoring when this is all over. I think they are bored of online learning, just as we are all bored of zoom and team calls! There have been huge advances but learning online is still not there with regards to replacing a face-face session. It’s not as interactive and it’s much harder to pick up on social and visual cues, which help learning. Online learning is here now, Covid established it as the norm, but in person will return in the future.
Greener Beans is our first subject in our new sustainability series where we will be talking to startups focused on a greener future. We asked Josh Ford who co-founded the company with Peter Wortsman some questions. Tell us about Greener Beans! How did it all start and what are your goals? Greener Beans is about […]
Greener Beans is our first subject in our new sustainability series where we will be talking to startups focused on a greener future. We asked Josh Ford who co-founded the company with Peter Wortsman some questions.
Tell us about Greener Beans! How did it all start and what are your goals?
Greener Beans is about accelerating the shift to more sustainable food production and consumption. We help shoppers to easily identify sustainable swaps to the grocery items they buy in the supermarket.
Having worked in the food industry for many years we are concerned about the damage our food system is causing the planet. Greener Beans gives shoppers easy and convenient guidance on sustainable food, making swapping rewarding.
Co-Founder Peter shared his initial idea with me in March last year, and we formed Greener Beans in April. Since then, we have built out how we score products and validated this with industry leaders.
This year we plan to launch our online sustainable swapping platform and measure the environmental impact these swaps are making. We know it is possible to remove millions of tonnes of carbon from our food consumption, along with equivalent savings of water and other impacts. We are actively growing the team to achieve these goals, so please get in touch.
Josh Ford
How are you engaging your employees in your sustainability efforts?
I guess you could say it’s in our DNA. Everyone involved is passionate about sustainability and believes what we are doing will have a real difference to changing our food system . We are supported by a talented group of advisors who have been instrumental in building our model and gaining traction with our stakeholders. We are fundraising and recruiting for a number of roles, and alignment to our values and cause is key to our search.
Do you set any goals for improvement and aim to make yourself more sustainable?
I found it’s important as individuals not to put too much pressure on making everything you do “perfectly sustainable” . There will always be a more sustainable way of doing things. It’s about making swaps where you can. I try to pick off easier items and make small incremental changes along the way. Recently it’s been a focus on less, but better-quality meat and fish, and repurposing old items into toys for the cat.
For Christmas this year, my wife and I did a “try something sustainable” advent calendar. We had to give each other something new to try each day, from shampoo bars to re-usable ear buds. We’ve tried a lot of new things not all of which will be here to stay, but some will.
As a business we have the opportunity of building things more consciously from the beginning, and in many ways operating a new start-up forces you to consume less. Being a tech company, our key output is digital and we are considering how we consume data, build efficiently, and the sustainability of our providers.
Peter Wortsman
What tips could you give other startup businesses to promote sustainability and have sustainability at their forefront?
Just make a start somewhere easy for you. Find the low hanging fruit in your operation and identify incremental improvements. The momentum of the collective learnings will grow in time. Engage your team and listen to and reward great ideas, celebrating the achievements in the same way you would with
other goals. One suggestion that timely is being purposeful on meeting up and office space. It’s a great way to reduce impact on travel, time and resources.
What have been your biggest challenges that have come exclusively from starting a green business?
I think generally there is a degree of confusion around the topic of sustainability. These days most people believe it’s important, but are unclear on the right action to take, and are wary of potential “greenwash”. It’s an added consideration in already busy work schedules and lives, and so any solution needs to be easy and convenient. We are very conscious of this in conversations with all our stakeholders, and in the service we are building for shoppers.
The pandemic has obviously affected a lot of startups both in positive and negative ways, how have you guys dealt with it?
Greener Beans was formed during the pandemic so it’s all we have known so far. We embraced flexible remote working from the start to allow for the added life challenges. Being a smaller team, it’s been easier to stay connected, and we have learnt an added appreciation for face-to-face interactions. Online shopping has experienced significant growth this year, and consumers are becoming more conscious to sustainability. Both of these have enhanced the relevance of what we are building. I think the pandemic has made investors more cautious and at the same time broadened their consideration set of potential investments.
They are also hiring a Tech Lead at Work In Startups, click here to take a look!
Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more […]
Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more about their goals and ambitions, what the future holds and (for all you startup jobseekers out there looking for the inside scoop) what they look for in a prospective employee.
This week we are talking to Hayri Bulmna founder of QUBS they are making next generation children toys help them understand coding.
Tell us about Cody Block! How did it all start and what are your goals?
In 2015 I was struck by the story of two brothers, Chris and Will Haughey, and how they started TEGU, a toy company that fosters a positive social impact in Honduras. I was not only fascinated by how the company came to be but also by their product, elegant wooden toys with a twist: a magnet hidden inside each piece.
I became obsessed with the idea of exploring how to bring technology and classic wooden toys together. I started working on different concepts and played with a project that was incorporating RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology inside the wooden blocks.
I started QUBS and launched our first toy, Cody Block, on Kickstarter on April 2020. Cody Block is a screen-free wooden toy for children aged three and up, which introduces the first concepts of computational thinking to young children via tangible programming.
What are your values as an ambitious startup?
We want to make toys that are good for children, for parents, and for the planet. As a company, our aim is to create toys that will be long-lasting, made of natural materials, and that can bring hours of play and learning for kids everywhere around the world.
With your current knowledge and what you’ve learnt so far, is there any advice would you give yourself back when you were just getting started?
The company is still very young and there’s a
lot to learn, but the team is very experienced and passionate. Probably we
should have waited a couple more months to launch on Kickstarter, as we started
selling our product in the midst of a pandemic, but luckily it all turned out
well!
What is next for Cody Block and what are the goals for 2021?
We are now in pur production phase and we want to ship Cody Block to all our backers in Q1 of 2021. We also already have some distributors interested in the product so we’re planning to expand to different markets next year. Of course, we are also developing new products to launch, but these are all a secret for now!
Any plans for the next stage of programming for kids?
We believe that the current generation of children will need to be literate in technology in order to understand the world they live in. Understanding the basics of coding will not only help children to learn logical thinking but also to develop fundamental problem solving abilities, creativity and resilience. The team is of course already discussing how to expand Cody Block’s world and its learning outcomes. When we think about the future of our products, we also want to make sure we stay true to our principles: making educational toys that are fun and playful, and that can integrate technology into timeless designs.
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