Dec 6, 2021
Bonuses – and how to fall out with your backers In this second part of a series about director’s service contract terms, we’re going to look at bonuses. They might be a major component of senior management remuneration in the wider world, but can create...
Dec 6, 2021
Directors’ service contracts – why they matter to investors When an investor first writes their cheque, their thinking is usually not so much that they’re backing the Company but instead that they are backing management. The problem is that their only direct...
Sep 13, 2021
Dear SaasCo, VCs often look at revenues as a benchmark for valuation – we do this because (1) the companies we invest in are very early-stage and have no EBITDA and (2) because, in most software/technology businesses costs of sales are negligible and become...
Sep 7, 2021
Dear SaasCo At its most basic level measuring financial performance is the review of revenue, gross profit and income/loss before tax. For many start-ups busy with growing teams, building product, dealing with customers and planning for the future the analysis of...
Aug 25, 2021
How it works in practice In this short series we’ve looked at various aspects of investor controls in venture funded companies – what they are, why they’re needed, who gets to have them, and how they’re shared between investors. We’re going to close off this topic,...
Aug 25, 2021
Moving up and making room So far in this short series, we’ve examined simple scenarios, those where there’s a founder group and a single investor. As time goes by, SaaSco scales and attracts new investors. How do the founders and investors negotiate a position that...