5 ms·

FWIW, certain legal documentation mandates the role of an "executive officer" or "president", but clearly those are mere formalities in companies of this size.

FWIW, certain legal documentation mandates the role of an "executive officer" or "president", but clearly those are mere formalities in companies of this size. I've always preferred to keep titles quite "loose" (e.g. "Member of Technical Staff","Sales","Support", etc.) outside of "Executive Staff" and "Founder" since nomenclature eventually reflects expectations as the enterprise scales.

jacquesm 16y ago
There are many good reasons for incorporating as late as you can get away with and for some situations, for instance, YC actively discourages people from incorporating before applying. This also helps in a different way, it is much easier to reshuffle after the 'shake-out' period if you have not incorporated yet.
- cema 16y ago
  Interesting - any place I could read about the reasons? Thanks!
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    http://ycombinator.com/faq.html http://ycombinator.com/faq.html Other reasons: A founder may not work out, once he's got stock that's a lot harder to resolve (if you didn't include a vesting cliff, for which, again, there are reasons for and against). Founders may find that they can't work together after all (personal differences). There are a lot of things that need to 'find their place' when you start a company, and in my experience you only really know your relative positions after a couple of months of collective hard work. Setting things in stone early can be problematic, costly or fatal.
- mathewgj 16y ago
  I learned from this (surprisingly interesting MSFT history) that Bill & Paul didn't formalize even a simple partnership between the two of them, let alone incorporate for about the first 2 years, during which time MSFT was operating and bringing in revenue. http://www.thocp.net/companies/microsoft/microsoft_company.htm http://www.thocp.net/companies/microsoft/microsoft_company.h...
  - nostrademons 16y ago
    Maybe this is why Paul got screwed. ;-)
    - staunch 16y ago
      Net worth ▲US$13.5 billion (2010)[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen
      - nostrademons 16y ago
        So it'd be more like $20B if Microsoft had split the equity 50/50 instead of of 66/33. Ironically, Bill Gates's reasoning for the split was the Paul had taken a part-time job at MITS to pay the bills, but then Bill went and took a part-time job at MITS too after they formed the agreement.
- neurotech1 16y ago
  Do you think its better to "find" a co-founder or hire somebody as first employee? PG states that the idea number is 2 co-founders, but I'm still looking for a co-founder.
notauser 16y ago
In the UK the paperwork of a LTD is the responsibility of a 'director' which is quite a handy nondescript indicator of general responsibility.
gyardley 16y ago
These are not mere formalities. Accidentally fail to comply with some bureaucratic governmental regulation? Run up a fine your company can't pay? It's the officers of the company who're going to be found personally liable.

jacquesm 16y ago

There are many good reasons for incorporating as late as you can get away with and for some situations, for instance, YC actively discourages people from incorporating before applying. This also helps in a different way, it is much easier to reshuffle after the 'shake-out' period if you have not incorporated yet.

cema 16y ago
Interesting - any place I could read about the reasons? Thanks!
- jacquesm 16y ago
  http://ycombinator.com/faq.html http://ycombinator.com/faq.html Other reasons: A founder may not work out, once he's got stock that's a lot harder to resolve (if you didn't include a vesting cliff, for which, again, there are reasons for and against). Founders may find that they can't work together after all (personal differences). There are a lot of things that need to 'find their place' when you start a company, and in my experience you only really know your relative positions after a couple of months of collective hard work. Setting things in stone early can be problematic, costly or fatal.
mathewgj 16y ago
I learned from this (surprisingly interesting MSFT history) that Bill & Paul didn't formalize even a simple partnership between the two of them, let alone incorporate for about the first 2 years, during which time MSFT was operating and bringing in revenue. http://www.thocp.net/companies/microsoft/microsoft_company.htm http://www.thocp.net/companies/microsoft/microsoft_company.h...
- nostrademons 16y ago
  Maybe this is why Paul got screwed. ;-)
  - staunch 16y ago
    Net worth ▲US$13.5 billion (2010)[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen
    - nostrademons 16y ago
      So it'd be more like $20B if Microsoft had split the equity 50/50 instead of of 66/33. Ironically, Bill Gates's reasoning for the split was the Paul had taken a part-time job at MITS to pay the bills, but then Bill went and took a part-time job at MITS too after they formed the agreement.
neurotech1 16y ago
Do you think its better to "find" a co-founder or hire somebody as first employee? PG states that the idea number is 2 co-founders, but I'm still looking for a co-founder.

notauser 16y ago

In the UK the paperwork of a LTD is the responsibility of a 'director' which is quite a handy nondescript indicator of general responsibility.

gyardley 16y ago

These are not mere formalities. Accidentally fail to comply with some bureaucratic governmental regulation? Run up a fine your company can't pay? It's the officers of the company who're going to be found personally liable.