For companies which require decent tech talent to build, I have been wondering if the seed stage has become a market for lemons.
The amounts offered at the seed stage aren't even enough to cover a year's salary/RSUs/other comp for someone with a bit of skill.
The time it takes to raise the seed round isn't time spent building a business. And with that time reallocated, someone technical can probably just save the money at a job or do consulting on the side while doing their startup.
I'd love to raise money for my startup, but every time I look at the numbers, the numbers just don't add up. If I go spend time fundraising, it may or may not work out. I'll definitely be out a bunch of time, and if I succeed I'll be out a bunch of equity. But the amount I get paid for that equity is problematic, especially considering I'll be expected to work below market for a while on my startup.
So instead investors simply don't get the opportunity to invest in what what, in my obviously biased opinion, is one of the few startups that could make their portfolio work.
The amounts offered at the seed stage aren't even enough to cover a year's salary/RSUs/other comp for someone with a bit of skill.
The time it takes to raise the seed round isn't time spent building a business. And with that time reallocated, someone technical can probably just save the money at a job or do consulting on the side while doing their startup.
I'd love to raise money for my startup, but every time I look at the numbers, the numbers just don't add up. If I go spend time fundraising, it may or may not work out. I'll definitely be out a bunch of time, and if I succeed I'll be out a bunch of equity. But the amount I get paid for that equity is problematic, especially considering I'll be expected to work below market for a while on my startup.
So instead investors simply don't get the opportunity to invest in what what, in my obviously biased opinion, is one of the few startups that could make their portfolio work.