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You’re an entrepreneur and founder of a new startup, with a great idea and the beginnings of a great team. You have a vision for your future – maybe it includes a big exit by going public with an IPO or being purchased by a tech giant. Your plans definitely include securing angel and venture-capital financing to help realize your dream.  But in order to make those dreams a reality, you’ll need something more: the knowledge and plans to build your startup’s legal and economic engine. You may know your tech, product and customers inside and out;  but having the same depth of understanding of the economics and legal structure of your startup is just as critical to its success.  That’s why we created StartupProgram.com Academy, a comprehensive, interactive online video lecture series that teaches you how to launch your startup properly, as well as truly understand your equity position so that you’re ready to win when negotiating with venture capitalists. Venture Economics and Law for Entrepreneurs The curriculum, presented as a series of video lectures with accompanying quizzes and reference materials, is composed of three courses:  Venture Economics 101: Tightly integrated with the StartupProgram.com cap table, this series gives … Read more

More than any other tool, your cap table is essential to planning the formation of your business and charting its financial future. StartupProgram.com’s cap table – we call it the Debt Equity Model – is laser-focused on providing founders of venture-backed companies the best possible insight into their future finances.  Cap Table Basics A capitalization table, traditionally a spreadsheet, sets forth each person’s stock ownership and ownership percentage in a company.  A pro forma cap table models the effect of selling stock or convertible notes and SAFEs on share price, dilution to the existing stockholders, and the potential outcomes for the investors in a sale of the business. Consulting your cap table and running pro forma scenarios for each financing is critical when negotiating with venture capitalists and other investors — without thoroughly understanding the impact of investment on your cap table during your negotiations creates a risk of handing over too much control of your company to your investors and reducing the founder’s and current stockholder payoff when you sell your business or go public (IPO). What’s more, venture capitalists will want to review your cap table to understand your company’s equity distribution before investing in your company. In … Read more

StartupProgram.com (SUP) has been a vision of founder Dan Offner for many years – and with the backing of a successful team, we are excited to launch our online platform to make this dream a reality. SUP is a one-stop solution for entrepreneurs and startups who need legal structuring and venture knowledge as they navigate the world of venture capital. SUP accomplishes these goals through three products: SUP Cap Tables, SUP Academy, and SUP Professional Services. We’ll be going more in-depth into each of these products individually in the coming weeks on this blog, with an extended discussion about what StartupProgram.com can do for you and your business. Offner, founder of O&A, P.C. and Blue Heron Ventures, created StartupProgram.com based off his expansive knowledge from more than 30 years of legal experience — most of which has been focused on early-stage and growth companies in technology and content. Offner has counseled some of the most recognizable names in tech today, including Facebook, Oculus, Ubisoft, and Alcon Entertainment. With hundreds of M&A deals, financings, and technology and content deals under his belt, it is clear that industry leaders trust and value his expertise. “Having been on both sides of numerous deals, … Read more