In Case You Missed It: Launch Links - Week of September 4, 2016
- 9.9.2016
Some interesting links we found across the web this week:
Will
tech IPOs come back to life in the fall?
2016 has been the slowest year
for IPOs since 2009, likely because of new issues raised by recent tech
companies , but VCs are beginning to hear rumblings of a
resurgence. Here’s the latest update from VentureBeat, and be sure
to click through to WilmerHale’s 2016 IPO Report (linked in the article) for a
much deeper dive on the recent state of the market.
What
to Know Before You Sign a Payment-by-Results Contract
Among the common legal concerns
of most early-stage companies is ensuring that contracts with other service
providers are clearly drafted to eliminate future disputes. As this piece
from the Harvard Business Review reminds us, that clarity is more
difficult to achieve when payment is contingent upon the subjective quality of
the provider’s results, as opposed to an objective and quantifiable delivery
from the provider. Payment-by-results can be useful, but be sure to
proceed with caution.
How
Big Does A Company Have To Be Before It Needs A Board?
You’ll technically have a board
of directors from the day you incorporate, but how large or complex must the
company be before the board begins to expand beyond the company’s
founders? It’s most likely to happen after your seed round, but check out
this piece from Forbes for a little more detail from a seasoned
management consultant.
White
House Proposes Loosening Restrictions For Immigrant Entrepreneurs
As we mentioned last week, an upcoming executive action on immigration is
expected to make it easier for foreign founders to remain in the US for up to
five years of active involvement in a . This week we caught this
short interview on the subject with an immigrant VC who exclusively invests in
immigrant entrepreneurs. Give it a listen for important perspective on an
issue that is not going away anytime soon.
The
Life-Changing Magic of Turning Employees Into Shareholders
Speaking of issues for next
year, The Atlantic has a spotlight on employee profit-sharing plans that
are an alternative to the pool most use to incentivize their
workers. The key difference is that, unlike , profit-sharing plans
give the employees a collective ownership stake in the company. Profit-sharing is likely too fraught with regulatory issues to be worthwhile
for most , but it’s worth keeping in mind as ’ voices in
Washington grow louder with each passing year.
Links compiled by Jared Brenner.
