Talk given by Burton Lee at 'Startup AddVenture' conference organized by CCC Startups, April 20 2015, in Zagreb, Croatia. With Vitaly Golomb, Max Gurvits, Mike Reiner, John Biggs, Ravi Belani, Kaushal Chokshi, Rick Rasmussen.
Website: www.StanfordEuropreneurs.org
Twitter: @burtonlee, @europreneurs
Incentivizing Top Talent To Join Your Startup - Startup AddVenture Zagreb - Croatia - April 20 2015
1. Incen%vizing
Top
Talent
to
Join
Your
Startup:
Doing
It
the
Silicon
Valley
Way
Dr.
Burton
Lee
European
Entrepreneurship,
Stanford
Engineering
www.StanfordEuropreneurs.org
|
@Europreneurs
Startup
AddVenture
-‐
Zagreb
2015
April
20
2015
2. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
2
3. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
3
What
can
European
startups
can
learn
from
them
??
4. How
Silicon
Valley
Thinks
About
Incen%ves
for
Startup
Founders
&
Employees
• CriFcal
to
future
growth
of
company
• Alignment
of
incenFves
with
business
goals
• AIract
and
retain
new
employees
• Build
strong
and
cohesive
teams
• Support
creaFon
of
proper
company
culture
• Empowerment
• Building
the
local
startup
&
investor
ecosystem
culture
&
knowledge
base
Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
4
5. Map
of
Presen%ng
Speaker
Na%onali%es
European
Entrepreneurship
&
Innova%on
@
Stanford
Engineering
(ME421)
Winter
2014
–
Year
Six
Enterprise
Estonia
Silicon
Valley
Ghent,
Flanders
Region
Belgium
iMinds
ICT
Research
Ins%tute
6. February 10 @ Stanford Engineering
Jeff Lynn, Seedrs (UK) & Matija Kopic, Farmeron (HR)
8. Mentoring
Croa%an
&
SEE
Startups
at
Geek
Business
Camp,
Brown
Forum,
Osijek,
April
2015
9. Osijek
Startup
Teams
Oben
Missed
These
Key
Issues
• Poor
team
cohesion
• Confusion
over
who
is
‘Founder’,
‘Co-‐Founder’
• 1
founder
+
employees
??
• Uneven
engagement
and
energy
across
team
members
• Major
disconnects
between
technical
and
sales/
markeFng
teams
• ‘Employees’
vs
criFcal
members
of
the
team
• Insufficient
recogniFon/Ftles
that
do
not
reflect
real
role
and
degree
of
responsibility
– Usually
too
low
(“Project
Assistant”
vs
‘VP,
Sales’
or
‘CMO’)
Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
9
10. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
10
A
one
man
show??
or
A
Solid
Team
that
can
Work
under
Stress,
Pivot
and
Grow?
11. How
Silicon
Valley
Thinks
About
Incen%ves
for
Startup
Founders
&
Employees
• CriFcal
to
growth
of
company
• Alignment
of
incenFves
with
business
goals
• AIract
and
retain
new
employees
• Build
strong
and
cohesive
teams
• Support
creaFon
of
proper
company
culture
• Empowerment
• Building
the
local
startup
&
investor
ecosystem
culture
&
knowledge
base
Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
11
12. Different
Startup
Environments
Silicon
Valley
• Fast-‐moving
markets,
compeFFon
&
companies
• Rapid
growth,
rapid
failure
• Strong
compeFFon
for
talent
(technical,
sales,
etc)
• High
mobility
of
talent
between
companies
• Work
6-‐7
days/week,
12-‐14
hour
days
• Strong
stock
opFons
legal
regime,
tax
policy,
culture
• Higher
startup
valuaFons
• Frequent
company
exits
Europe
• Slower
markets
&
decision-‐making,
less
compeFFon
• Less
compeFFon
for
talent
• LiIle
mobility
of
people
between
companies
• Most
employees
seek
secure
job,
salary
&
benefits
• Work
5
days/week,
8
hours
• Stock
opFons
are
viewed
with
suspicion,
only
for
senior
execs
• No
or
poor
legal
regime
for
stock
opFons
• Lower
startup
valuaFons
• Slow
exits
market
Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
12
13. Typical
Startup
Employee
Incen%ves
Silicon
Valley
• Stock
opFons
• Company
culture
(fun,
energy,
engagement,
change
agent)
• Title
&
recogniFon
for
work
performed/success
• PromoFon
&
challenges
• Salary
• Perks
(food,
play,
services)
• Benefits
(health,
etc)
Europe
• Salary
• Title
• PromoFon
• Perks
• Benefits
Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
13
14. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
14
Stock
Op%ons
for
Startup
Employees
15. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
15
16. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
16
17. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
17
18. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
18
19. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
19
20. Stock
Op%ons
for
Startups
• Get
the
founders’
stock
arrangements
right!
• Establish
an
overall
game
plan
for
equity
incenFves
– Establish
a
stock
opFon
plan
with
an
established
reserve
– Plan
should
be
geared
for
anFcipated
headcount
growth
over
a
12-‐18
month
period
• A
stock
plan
is
a
formal
wriIen
document
approved
by
the
board
of
directors
and
the
shareholders
Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
20
22. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
22
23. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
23
24.
25. Silicon
Valley
Leaders
in
Company
Culture
Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
25
26. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
26
Leaders
in
Crea%ng
Strong
Company
Culture
in
Europe
27. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
27
World
Class
Startups
Out
of
Croa%a
Rimac
Automobili
Zagreb,
Croa%a
28. Key
Takeaways
• Stock
OpFons
for
Founders
&
Employees
– USA
is
probably
best
place
to
establish
legal
‘home’
due
(in
part)
to
presence
of
strong
system
for
founder
&
employee
stock
opFons
plans
– Easiest
to
issue
opFons
to
European
employees
from
US
plans
– Very
well
understood
by
US
law
firms
–
check
your
naFonal
tax
laws
• Company
culture
– Key
to
future
growth
of
company
– Founders
should
think
about
culture
early
on
• Titles
– Pay
early
aIenFon
to
Ftles
!!
– Public
recogniFon
for
team
contribuFons
– Poor
Ftles
send
strong
signals
to
team,
customers
&
investors
about
how
founders
view
colleagues
and
future
growth
Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
28
29. Apr
20
2015
Copyright
2015
Burton
H.
Lee
and
Innovarium
Ventures
|
Silicon
Valley
29
31. THANK
YOU
!!
Dr.
Burton
Lee
European
Entrepreneurship,
Stanford
Engineering
www.StanfordEuropreneurs.org
|
@Europreneurs
Burton.Lee@innovarium.net
32.
Working
in
Silicon
Valley,
Europe,
La%n
America
and
Washington
DC
• Senior
financial,
technical
and
strategy
advisory
services
for
global
technology
innovaFon
organizaFons
• Professional
Services
– Technology
startup
and
growth
companies
• Interim
CXO
and
Advisory
Board
roles
• Expert
guidance
&
decision-‐making
at
the
interface
between
market/customers,
technology
and
finance
• Business
development
–
industrial
and
government
• Business
plan
preparaFon/research/review;
Government
Grant
proposal
preparaFon/review
• Coaching
and
mentoring
of
CEOs
and
other
CXO-‐level
managers
• Assistance
with
government
regulatory
and
policy
agencies
– Angel,
venture
capital
and
private
equity
Investors
• Fund
strategy,
team
selecFon
and
market
posiFoning
• Due
diligence:
technical,
financial,
strategy
and
business
models
– Public
and
non-‐profit
R&D
laboratories
• Technology
transfer
&
partnerships;
venturing
and
spin-‐out
of
companies;
strategy
and
business
development;
grant
applicaFons
– Research
universiFes
• InnovaFon-‐related
models,
policies
and
pracFces
• Technology
transfer
and
licensing;
industry
partnerships
and
relaFons;
development
and
strategy;
grant
applicaFons
– NaFonal
and
regional
government
agencies
• InnovaFon
policy
formulaFon,
analysis
and
review;
cluster
development
strategy;
economic
impact
studies
• Science
&
technology
policy
formulaFon,
analysis
&
review:
space,
aviaFon,
nanotechnology,
sosware/AI/roboFcs,
manufacturing
• Selected
recent
clients
– US/European
technology
startup
companies
–
alternaFve
energy,
roboFcs/AI,
sosware,
Internet,
nanotech
– Venture
and
private
equity
funds
–
aerospace,
nanotechnology,
ICT,
compuFng,
advanced
materials,
clean
tech
– Office
of
the
Prime
Minister,
Ireland;
European
Commission;
NaFonal
Science
FoundaFon;
NASA,
NaFonal
Academies
• Dr.
Burton
Lee
PhD
MBA,
Managing
Director
– Contact:
Burton.Lee@innovarium.net
Based
in
Palo
Alto,
CA
near
Stanford
University
– Bio/References:
LinkedIn
Profile
– Lecturer,
European
Entrepreneurship
&
InnovaFon,
Stanford
School
of
Engineering