I have more than one client currently considering convertible bridge notes as a parallel angel/seed round funding technique, and I have one who recently closed a small convertible note that will convert in the upcoming seed round. What’s a convertible bridge note? A convertible bridge note is a not-uncommon financing instrument in venture capital. This…

Posted a quick reply about personal financial statements to one of Fred Wilson’s thoughts about the importance of saving and investing. As I think about it now, I suppose I should edit to make that point clearer. But it’s there even without the keywords. I’ll explore this framework further on Simplifying Complexity if there’s interest:…

Some time ago, I’d come across a Forbes article (now lost to three or four intervening moves and office clean-outs that discussed the effects on pension plans on executive compensation. One really interesting fact was that (as of June 9, 2003) only a “handful” of companies (including GE and Verizon) had excluded pension “earnings” from…

People often ask about what entity they should choose for their new business, not knowing that the real first question is the one they skipped over without even realizing it. Should you incorporate? Short answer: you should probably just buy insurance instead. Entity types to consider include the corporation (with S- or C- taxation), limited…

Over on LinkedIn, this question caught my eye: How much do founders get diluted through exit? This isn’t a new question.I regularly answered it for founders, employees, and even angel investors during my time at Brobeck in Silicon Valley. There are lots of people concerned about “dilution” without really knowing what it is. Dilution means…

Apparently, the only financial people not reading Forbes are those who write in Forbes. This article, from October 2, refer several times to the drop in interbank lending (but extends this to include “lending to other banks and to customers of banks”). On the other hand, this article, from October 1, makes it clear that…