5 ms·

Joining a startup as employee no 1. It was my worst investment. I'll be happy to merely get the value of my work hours back some day, even in the best case th

Joining a startup as employee no 1. It was my worst investment. I'll be happy to merely get the value of my work hours back some day, even in the best case that the exit will be quite a successful one. I don't expect to get more than what I could have made as a freelancer during those years. I'm now making way more money just working. Simply buying the shares would have been cheaper for me. Now whenever I do the math for accepting shares over money, it's usually not worth it.

mrcold 12y ago
We need to learn from Hollywood. Always get a share of the profit off the top. Any other kind of profit sharing is not worth it.
- akg_67 12y ago
  Always get a share of the revenue. Example: Forest Gump author got zilch because his share was based on profit and not revenue
  - amirmc 12y ago
    And a share of gross revenue, at that. I'm sure all these definitions are written in the studio's favour. Apparently, Stan Lee never got anything for his creations either (and Spiderman grossed $800M+). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting
    - lmm 12y ago
      Stan Lee's famous for ripping off the creators of characters in comics he published, so I wouldn't feel too sorry for him.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  'off the top' means revenues, not profits. Profit sharing opens you up to all kinds of creative accounting reducing the profits (or even turning them into a loss) to the point where you're not getting anything. That's why they say: "profit points are for suckers". See also: hollywood accounting.
- aboutus 12y ago
  Star Wars never made a profit, apparently: http://www.slashfilm.com/lucasfilm-tells-darth-vader-that-return-of-the-jedi-hasnt-made-a-profit/ http://www.slashfilm.com/lucasfilm-tells-darth-vader-that-re...
robotresearcher 12y ago
Question was about taking an investment.

mrcold 12y ago

We need to learn from Hollywood. Always get a share of the profit off the top. Any other kind of profit sharing is not worth it.

akg_67 12y ago
Always get a share of the revenue. Example: Forest Gump author got zilch because his share was based on profit and not revenue
- amirmc 12y ago
  And a share of gross revenue, at that. I'm sure all these definitions are written in the studio's favour. Apparently, Stan Lee never got anything for his creations either (and Spiderman grossed $800M+). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting
  - lmm 12y ago
    Stan Lee's famous for ripping off the creators of characters in comics he published, so I wouldn't feel too sorry for him.
jacquesm 12y ago
'off the top' means revenues, not profits. Profit sharing opens you up to all kinds of creative accounting reducing the profits (or even turning them into a loss) to the point where you're not getting anything. That's why they say: "profit points are for suckers". See also: hollywood accounting.
aboutus 12y ago
Star Wars never made a profit, apparently: http://www.slashfilm.com/lucasfilm-tells-darth-vader-that-return-of-the-jedi-hasnt-made-a-profit/ http://www.slashfilm.com/lucasfilm-tells-darth-vader-that-re...

robotresearcher 12y ago

Question was about taking an investment.