What are the hidden dangers that lurk in the unsexy foundations of your business that can trip you up?How can you make smart and strategic decisions about the most basic steps, like how and where you register and incorporate your business?
What do you need to do before you take the first outside dollar to protect both yourself and your company so you don’t get blindsided down the road?What simple steps can every founder take to make potential investors happy, and your own life much easier?
In this episode, Heidi Abdul, co-founder and COO of Afissio, LLC, provides an easy-to-understand and actionable guided tour of the basic legal and corporate infrastructure you need, to be successful as a founder and fundraiser.
Important note: The views and opinions expressed during this episode are those of the presenter and do not represent legal advice. The podcast episode is based solely on the professional opinions and experience of the interviewee and is made available for information and experience sharing purposes only.
Episode Highlights
- An overview of the most important corporate topics every founder needs to know
- How to select the right organization structure for your business, and why it matters
- Common mistakes most entrepreneurs make in the early days, and how to avoid them
- What you should know about organization structure if you plan to take outside investment, or even if you don't
- Why it's important to engage a tax professional early, and why their input matters
- Why jurisdiction matters, and how to select the right jurisdiction for your business
- The big mistake many entrepreneurs make with capital, and ways to avoid it
- Why you should be careful after getting the first check, and why many entrepreneurs fail because they don't pay heed
- How to improve your odds of getting a favorable valuation
- What you need to know about structuring equity, and how it can hurt you if you don't
- A primer on the single biggest tool for fundraising, the cap table, and how to use it to strategically improve your funding outcomes
- External risks that can tank your fundraising, and how to prepare yourself and your startup for rainy days
- A primer on the commonly used funding instruments in early stage ventures, and what to know about each
- How to make due diligence and fundraising easy on yourself from day one
- The simple secret to getting the best funding terms you can, that anyone can learn, and how it pays off
