Truer words never spoken. The valley is an incredibly small place, and your actions as a CEO, even a decade ago, are remembered and spoken of today. One CEO (who shall remain nameless) of a classic startup that I worked for 6 months at (so I have no skin/bias - I didn't hit my cliff - went to work for the next startup before getting there) - ended up not getting traction quickly enough, and, near the end, sold out to Oracle for $90mm.
The Common Shareholders (all of the employees) had their options completely wiped out. Totally worthless.
The preferred shareholders got their money out (which is fine, that's they are called preferred shares) - but the CEO, and a few of the founders who were no longer with the company, received multi-million dollar handshakes, even though they were common share holders. This was a Kleiner Company.
Lessons learned from this:
The CEO, regardless of whether he is a Common Shareholder, is not in the same class as you, and will be given preferential treatment. This particular CEO will be remembered by roughly 120 employees who have spread through the valley 4 years later, as the asshole that he is.
If you are a founder, you still have leverage in a sale, even if you aren't with the company. Keep your lawyers close by if a deal takes place for a company that you helped found.
Worker-Bees - Remember where you are in the feeding chain, and don't trust Kleiner to recompense you when they are exiting.
The Common Shareholders (all of the employees) had their options completely wiped out. Totally worthless.
The preferred shareholders got their money out (which is fine, that's they are called preferred shares) - but the CEO, and a few of the founders who were no longer with the company, received multi-million dollar handshakes, even though they were common share holders. This was a Kleiner Company.
Lessons learned from this:
The CEO, regardless of whether he is a Common Shareholder, is not in the same class as you, and will be given preferential treatment. This particular CEO will be remembered by roughly 120 employees who have spread through the valley 4 years later, as the asshole that he is.
If you are a founder, you still have leverage in a sale, even if you aren't with the company. Keep your lawyers close by if a deal takes place for a company that you helped found.
Worker-Bees - Remember where you are in the feeding chain, and don't trust Kleiner to recompense you when they are exiting.