bitonomics

This opens the door for them to compete with a lot of these platforms. Since they already have the hardware on site (iPad) they start to become a competitor for StyleSeat, MyTime, Noshlist, NoWait, etc.

It's really cool to the additional value being added tot he platform outside of payments.

- Where can you find a good co-founder ? Best if it is someone you have known for a while. If not meet ups and places where people with common interests gather.

- What share would you offer him (already working 2 years on the project already and invested money in it etc.)? It depends on what type of skills they bring to the table. A vesting schedule is best so that over time they are compensated, but if they walk away a few months into it you aren't screwed.

- How would you organize it legally ? Depends on how your projects are organized. LLC or C Corp managing the other entities probably works, but there are a lot of variables and this is where a lawyer would come in.

- Would you meet him in person first ? ABSOLUTELY! This is basically a marriage...you don't want to start that on a blind date.

- Are there other things you should be careful for ? Be careful of over committing equity and not knowing the person well enough.

Another useful thing might be to read this article by Mark Suster: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/05/09/the-co-founder...

Isn't that what TechCrunch is for? [joke]

What was the goal of the press release?

It can have some good uses if you can get them wanting to ask more which would hopefully lead to a story.

Congrats to the PD team. They have a great product and expanding like crazy.

There is certainly a market for mapping data. I think the big part is being able to layer the data in a constructive way and having access to said data is probably the hard part.

But you have companies like Esri who make $1B/year on maps and yet most people have no idea who they are. (www.esri.com)

It also helps to establish some early rolls. Some with more expectations than others. We sat with one investor and they assumed that the CEO should be the one pitching for example.

Not to mention, if you are going to quit your job to build a company you don't get excited and call yourself a junior engineer. Or full stack guru.

Seems to have worked out for Ebay....

It does seem funny that Yelp would complain about the premium organic listings.

But with Google owning Zagat it makes sense that Yelp wouldn't be the first result. I feel we often mistake Google for a search only company even though they are increasingly becoming the GE of tech and have every right to start giving their subsidiaries the premium "organic" results.

The big thing I think this does is open them up to competition in the long run. It would have to be anything special, maybe a s simple as the Google from 5 years ago (before they bought another company in seemingly every sector)

And from the looks of the design it seems like Bing is starting to look a lot like the Google of old.

Similarly, on Sunday ESPN opened up a brand new studio with much a different set, graphics, and design for Sports Center.

Is it just me or is the flat, iOS 7 and Apple-esk design starting to flow into mainstream sites?

You can never get the time you spent being miserable back, but you can prevent spending more in the future. And quitting will allow you to make that change for the better.

No knowing how you left the first job, it might be worth while to contact them and see your old job back assuming you liked it and are willing to move closer.

I would like to second this response.

All extremely valuable to limit long term risk. Over time someone(s) will have to leave the group and having this ironed out up front saves a lot of time, effort, and money down the road.

One thing to consider is cash contributions (if any) that might alter the allotted equity. Other than that, equal partners with vesting is a good way to go.

A couple that were quite entertaining for me were:

1) Hatching Twitter 2) The Everything Store (Amazon Story) 3) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success --This one was particularly interesting when thinking about employees and recruiting and what to look for in people that you are working with. After the author introduces the concept it gets a little dry for a chapter or two, but then really interesting after that. 4) The Hard Thing About Hard Things - this one was inspiring from a management/CEO perspective. When thinking about building a company that people enjoy working for (and all the tough stuff that comes with it) this is a great read.

One thing to think about is find a person you are willing to work with just as much as finding a great idea. In some ways its like dating and taking the time to get to know a person.

Going out to events and looking into your existing network is a great starting point. But if you are going to be working closely with someone for 3-10 years on a project there is a lot to consider.

Mark Suster has a great post about "hiring" your co-founder worth a read: http://goo.gl/Fkejjp

I have heard a lot of good things about SendGrid. They really understand transactional email.

www.sendgrid.com

As a Co-founder I can attest to the fact that it is a very valuable asset. But with that said, my co-founder and I left our jobs at the same time to start our company and had complementary skill sets. He is the development side of the house and I wear the "biz dev" hat.

There is a really good post by Mark Suster that talks about hiring your co-founder. It is a the best of both worlds in some cases because you get someone that is on the same commitment level, but you don't have to give up all the equity that comes with a 50/50 split.

Here is the link: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/05/09/the-co-founder...

It is not much help the first year, but on campus jobs, specifically in housing can help a lot. It can cut $10-20K/year down in cost.

Room and board is typically the highest expense after tuition and if you can cut that down to nothing it can go a long way.

It also doubles as a great way to meet people who are working their way through school.

4) I expect events to be run. I think it is a big part of creating the community feeling in the coworking space. And that community feel is what is one of the ways cowering differs from traditional shared space like a Regis office.

5) Not expected.

6) Definitely. Especially if #4 is present.

Agreed.

Capitalism gives people the ability to be driven by generally selfish factors, but there is a line between selfish motivation and greed.

Unfortunately that line is more of a moral one which can make it harder to define.

Duh.

That makes me feel better.

I can't believe this is a real thing. It's not like there isn't anyone else in Russia with a Netflix account.

Various facts applying I have heard as little as 8% and as much as 30% for a typical Angel round. Venture backed Seed funding usually being within that range.

It's good to be flexible but to have enough of a belief in what you are doing that if the first offer isn't the right offer you are willing to walk away in search of the right deal. Having a ceiling is generally good.

You want to make sure you can last 2-3 rounds before giving up a majority stake.

Similar to other replies the most important thing is the definition of roles.

As a tangible example, our startup (team of 7) we actually use both within our title. Co-Founder and CEO. Externally this is good, because it provides initial guidance for others who are getting to know the company and aide them in making some initial judgements. For example the CEO is going to be the one responsible for raising money, acquiring customers, recruiting, etc.

So if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, no reason to wait to call it a duck.

The tough thing for us is that it seems we are not only against Google who quite possibly removed it with out proper cause. Or due diligence. But more than Google, we are having to work with another company who made the allegations. Google says they have to sign off on an agreement before we will be put back on the store.

And they haven't made themselves available to speak with us after our initial attempts.

Would you be willing to pay more for a higher SLA?

I think there is a part of the book that was missed by the author of the article.

Gladwell wasn't trying to say that everyone could become an expect by putting in 10,000 hours, but rather he could explain the "Outliers" in our society because of the intense amount of work (hours) and favorable situations. Bill Gates enjoyed coding yes, but he had an opportunity to code much earlier than others. You look at Gates, Steve Jobs, and Bill Joy, all born in the mid 1950's with the opportunity to capatailze on a new industry. All with their 10,000 hours when they became of age and enough entrepreneurship take advantage of the newly developed market (or in some ways create the market).

He is about half there in terms of time and is getting pretty good. http://thedanplan.com/

For a second I was thinking the opposite, in that the investor wanted to continue the happiness and bring in a second round of funding. Thus giving his first investment a greater chance of success.

Is the thought to keep the process the same and find a way of managing the endowment from the Alumni?

Any reason they couldn't seed the additional resources of the Alumni and remain a for-profit entity?