Noam Wasserman's "Founder Frustrations" blog

"Founders' Dilemmas" Course: Founder-CEO Succession Cases

2009-09-29T08:00:00.003-05:00

In prior posts about my “Founders’ Dilemmas” MBA course, I provided an overview of the course, details about the Introductory case and the cases in the “When to Found” module, details about four cases in the "Building the Team" module, and descriptions of the core new-venture hiring cases.This post covers the course's founder-CEO succession cases. The first case ("Founder-CEO Succession at Wily

Topics Covered in This Blog (So Far)

2009-09-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

Here's the updated "thematic index" to the entries and links in this blog."Founders' Dilemmas" MBA Course ContentNEW Post: Course OverviewNEW Post: Introductory Case and "When to Found" ModuleNEW Post: "Building the (Founding) Team" ModuleNEW Post: New-Venture Hiring CasesNEW Post: Founder-CEO Succession Cases[More coming...]Rich vs. King: The Entrepreneur's Dilemma NEW Article: New Article in

"Founders' Dilemmas" Course: New-Venture Hiring Cases

2009-09-08T07:30:00.001-05:00

In prior posts about my “Founders’ Dilemmas” MBA course, I provided an overview of the course, details about the Introductory case and the cases in the “When to Found” module, and details about four cases in the "Building the Team" module.This post covers the two core new-venture hiring cases in the course, one of which is part of the “Building the Team” module and the other of which is an

"Founders' Dilemmas" Course: "Building the (Founding) Team" Case Studies

2009-07-15T07:30:00.002-05:00

In prior posts about my “Founders’ Dilemmas” MBA course, I provided an overview of the course and details about its first three case studies (which include the Introductory case and the cases in the “When to Found” module).This post covers the four founding-team cases in the “Building the Team” module. (Another case in the module covers non-founder hiring issues, and will be described in my next

"Founders' Dilemmas" Course, Part 1: Introductory Case and "When to Found" Module

2009-06-16T10:29:00.006-05:00

As promised, this post outlines the first three cases of my “Founders’ Dilemmas” MBA course (see my previous post for the course overview).This post covers the Course Introduction case and the two cases from the “When to Found” module, and provides for each case the official case description, a list of the case’s core issues, and a link to the HBS Publishing entry for that case. As mentioned

Course Overview for "Founders' Dilemmas"

2009-06-10T09:37:00.006-05:00

Educating founders about the upcoming decisions and challenges they will faceLast week was HBS Graduation Week, marking the official end of the debut semester for my “Founders’ Dilemmas” course. I had a great semester with a terrific group of very sharp students (who generously bestowed on the course the 2009 HBS Teaching Award). In honor of those bold, risk-taking students who were willing to

Founder Cases in the News: Evan Williams (Twitter) and Apple

2009-05-06T12:36:00.005-05:00

One of this week’s more intriguing (and controversial) rumors in the IT industry was about Apple's possible interest in acquiring Twitter.I was planning to use my next blog-post to give an overview of my new MBA course ("Founders' Dilemmas: Money and Power in Entrepreneurial Ventures"), followed by posts on its individual case studies. However, given the Apple-Twitter rumors, I decided to jump

Just Launched: 10th Anniversary Compensation Survey

2009-05-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Our annual Entrepreneurship and Compensation surveys are under way right now. Do you want to participate and get free access to compensation data?The surveys focus on private companies in the Information Technology and Life Sciences industries. We have conducted them annually since 2000, making this the tenth year of the survey. I collaborate on the surveys with three professional services firms

New: "A Note on the Legal and Tax Implications of Founders' Equity Splits"

2009-04-06T10:21:00.002-05:00

In January, I debuted a brand-new MBA course based on my research on founders. The theme of the course should be familiar to readers of this blog: the tough, early choices founders face that have important, long-term implications for them and their ventures.For the course, I wrote 15 HBS Cases about the challenges faced by founders as they decide: when to make the leap into founderhood, whether

The Gender Gap in Startups, Part 2: Compensation

2009-02-03T07:00:00.003-05:00

Is there a Gender Salary Gap in private ventures?My previous post showed the percentages of men versus women in IT versus Life Sciences executive teams, across various VP-level and C-level positions. In this post, I focus on salary differences by gender, first describing the overall results using our full 2008 survey results, then delving into various subsets of the data.The regressions included

The Gender Gap in Startups, Part 1: Women in IT and Life Sciences Ventures

2008-12-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

What are the actual percentages of women in startups? Do the numbers differ by industry, stage of venture, or position? And, are women and men paid differently in startups?On a regular basis, I read articles that refer to or lament the imbalance between men and women in startups. For instance, this Forbes article states that only 4.08% of venture funding in 2006 went to tech startups with

This Friday: Entrepreneurial Compensation Webcasts

2008-11-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

The annual Compensation Reports that are produced using the data from our "CompStudy" entrepreneurship survey are being unveiled this Friday, November 7, during the third annual Compensation Webcast. (The survey data also serves as one of the backbones of the research described in this blog.) The sponsors of the survey, Ernst & Young, WilmerHale, and J. Robert Scott, will walk through some of

The Perils of Being a (Successful) Serial Entrepreneur

2008-10-13T12:30:00.001-05:00

Succeeding as an entrepreneur comes with many benefits: heightened credibility, new skills, broader and deeper connections. However, once you've succeeded, are there any downsides you should worry about?There are substantial benefits to having already been a successful entrepreneur. (In addition to the things listed above, one specific example: My new "After the Firing" analyses -- details

Harvard Business Online: "Don't Wait Too Long to Become an Entrepreneur"

2008-09-23T09:30:00.001-05:00

Earlier this month, the folks at the Harvard Business Online site asked me to do a "Conversation Starter" blog post on their site about the challenges faced by people transitioning from being big-company employees to becoming entrepreneurs.The result was posted two weeks ago. More than three dozen comments later (thank you to everyone who contributed there!), I posted my thoughts on some of the

Unlocking Your Golden Handcuffs: How Common is Accelerated Vesting on Change of Control?

2008-08-31T08:45:00.000-05:00

"I'm negotiating my equity-compensation package. How frequently do people get accelerated vesting on change of control?"In private ventures, vesting of equity stakes is the major form of golden handcuffs (see posts here, here, and here) used to keep executives at their ventures. However, other terms, such as accelerated vesting on change of control (AVCoC), can shorten those vesting periods. (

Rich vs. King, Around the World

2008-07-21T10:10:00.000-05:00

If I live outside the United States, do Rich-versus-King tradeoffs apply to founders in my country?In recent months, one question I have gotten on a regular basis is whether Rich-versus-King tradeoffs are specific to founders from the United States or are more universal. (See here for a blog-post about the core concept, here for a fuller article in Harvard Business Review.) The data with which

The Idea Premium: How Much (Equity) is Your Idea Worth?

2008-06-17T09:00:00.001-05:00

How much more equity do you receive if you are the founder who came up with the original idea for your venture?Last month I posted preliminary analyses (here and here) of how the initial titles/positions adopted by co-founders are affected by which founder had the original idea. In a long-ago post about equity splits, I also suggested that past contributions -- including which co-founder(s) had

"Administrivia" Corner: This Blog is Now Email-enabled

2008-05-28T12:49:00.000-05:00

For those who prefer to receive new posts via email, I have integrated email subscriptions into this blog. Just enter your email address into the field in the right-side column to be emailed each new post.My one request to email-subscribers is that when you see something relevant or interesting in a post, please hop into the blog to post your insights/comments on it. If you can do that on a

A Second Look at "Idea People" as CEOs: Should vs. Do

2008-05-06T09:29:00.000-05:00

In response to last week's post showing raw data about the propensity of "idea people" to take the CEO position within their founding teams, Tadej commented:I don't think having the idea should generally affect your position in the company (that should be determined by your abilities and motivations) - some people say that having an idea is worth 20 bucks, the rest is implementation.Tadej makes

Idea People and Their Initial Roles Within Founding Teams

2008-05-01T10:56:00.000-05:00

Does being your venture's "idea person" affect your initial role within the venture and the size of your equity stake?Initial analyses of data from our 2007 Compensation Survey (the 2008 Survey is currently under way -- see here to participate!) suggest that being the idea person can affect your role and the size of your equity stake. In this post, I delve into the impact on roles, and in the

Looking for Private-Venture Compensation Data? (2008 Version)

2008-04-22T11:44:00.000-05:00

Our annual Entrepreneurship and Compensation surveys are under way right now. Want to participate? The surveys focus on private companies in the Information Technology and Life Sciences industries. (We have conducted the survey annually since 2000 for IT companies, and since 2003 for Life Sciences companies.)Survey participants receive a free, detailed "Compensation Report" that provides

Your Thoughts on Achieving Rich&King?

2008-03-31T21:45:00.002-05:00

Thank you to everyone who contributed thoughts about "The Founder's Dilemma." It was quite interesting to see your reflections on the specific Rich vs. King tradeoffs you have faced, and also your thoughts on what might separate the exceptional Rich&King founders from those who face those tradeoffs.Much of the current case-writing for my new course (more on the course in an upcoming post) is

New Article in Harvard Business Review: "The Founder's Dilemma"

2008-02-04T09:50:00.000-05:00

The new (February 2008) issue of Harvard Business Review has an article that delves into issues familiar to (and possibly of interest to) participants in this blog. Its title is "The Founder's Dilemma."Below is the article summary from the HBR site. For the full article, see here at HBR or here at HBS Publishing.If you want more details on the cases mentioned in the article, most are listed

Investors (and Managers) as Headhunters: Sources of New-Venture Executives

2008-01-08T13:30:00.000-05:00

How much of a role do investors play in helping portfolio companies find executive hires?A year and a half ago, two students of mine conducted a survey of entrepreneurs regarding how much value their VCs were adding to their ventures. One finding: 25% of the entrepreneurs complained that their VCs did not contribute enough value regarding the recruiting of senior executives. (On the list of

Hiring Into -- and Demoting Into? -- Executive Positions

2007-12-10T15:49:00.000-05:00

Our recent CompStudy webcast included a chart (originally conceived by Mike DiPierro) that showed a breakdown of founders versus non-founders in each executive position. For instance, in the 240 IT start-ups in this year’s survey, how many have founder-CEOs and how many have non-founding CEOs? Likewise for the other C-level positions and the next level down in the organization.The chart below