5% Equity Offered !!

I have been offered a 5% Equity with a Relationship Intelligence Platform which is at very early stage and the CEO wants me to drive the Sales and Build the Team and Grow Business.


The Product is yet to find its Market Fit but eventually it looks like it would attain the Market Fit.


I have taken 2 Startups from 0 -1 Journey and helped them crack the $1 Million mile stone within 12 Months. Both of them were Inbound Driven largely.


The Current Company is a Series A startup with 25K USD in Stock Options with 4 Years of Vesting Period and I am already a Year old in the system.


What would you do here? - Any Advice/suggestions would be appreciated :)

☁️ Software Tech
💰 Compensation
👥 Hiring
17
punishedlad
Tycoon
7
🧙‍♂️
I've decided summarily that I'm staying far away from anything Series A or younger, but that's just me. Had my ass chapped more than once.
jefe
Arsonist
3
🍁
Sounds like your experience will serve you well if you decide to go with it. You need to think about what you really want to do and take time to understand the competitive landscape.
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
2
Senior Account Executive
That's what I am writing down.
Rallier
Politicker
3
SDR Manager and Consultant
How do you know it will find product market fit?
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
1
Senior Account Executive
Data is where everybody looks into and this platform is able to showcase the data.
coletrain
Politicker
1
Account Executive
What prevents another company from showing this exact same data?
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
1
Senior Account Executive
So it isn't just a data that is publically available. The firm uses your email & calendar to mine the network with whom you have atleast exchanged a couple of emails. That's Your Network Discovery + Your Network's Network = Extended Network [Helping in Warm Introduction] + Organization Network - sharable one with which you can identify who are all connected from your network with a Company and if some can help you to get foot in the door.
coletrain
Politicker
2
Account Executive
Okay, what I'm reading is more in-depth on features as opposed to preserving a unique place. What prevents someone from building out the same functionality to connect to Outlook/Gmail/etc?
braintank
Politicker
3
Enterprise Account Executive
Exactly. Microsoft has pretty cool AI/ML stuff built into Outlook w/ Viva.

MSFT and Google aren't companies I'd be eager to compete with.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
3
🦊
Series A is really risky. Be sure you are ready.
butwhy
Politicker
2
Solutions Engineer
Relationship Intelligence is both a crowded field with lots of large companies branching out, and a nice to have sales motion during a recession.

Unless you have a CMO who breathes fire and a baller as hell board - I wouldn't.
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
0
Senior Account Executive
I don't see it as a Crowded Field - Any Company names you can share that i can refer to?
SoccerandSales
Big Shot
2
Account Executive
That seems like a really great opportunity but only if the product has market fit. Personally, I am pretty risk-averse when it comes to my money, but definitely a huge opportunity for you if you can establish the market.
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
1
Senior Account Executive
PMF is always a challenge with any startup these days.
ADK
Opinionated
2
VC Associate
I have a counter question for you since you said that you have already taken 2 startups from 0-1. How would you compare this company with previous start-up's market-fits etc? What's your overall gut feeling about it?

5% equity is generous by the way.

PS. This is a separate conversation but if you're in the mood to share, I'm always curious to hear start-up sales scaling stories, how did you do that before?
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
1
Senior Account Executive
The Current & Previous company was heavily Inbound Driven - Product which are required in a Market. This Product I believe is going to be largely outbound driven because nobody searches on google - how to discover my network. It ain't a brand today but events, webinars, marketing effort will eventually give a push is what I am thinking.

5% at this stage is equal to the Risk.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
2
Rolling 20's all day
That's great that there is equity but Series A make me nervous. If you're up for risk then go for it.
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
0
Senior Account Executive
No, Its Equity for a startup which is raising its Seed Funding.
MBSSuccess
Fire Starter
1
CEO
I would have them do a Key Person Policy to guarantee you will benefit in the long run. Money may be tight at the beginning, but having a policy that can kick in once the project gets going is the best safety net. I'd love to set this up for you.
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
0
Senior Account Executive
Na, It doesn't work that way. The Equity offered is equal to the Risk I am putting into.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
If you have taken

I have taken 2 Startups from 0 -1 Journeyseems like you know more than most, good luck!
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
0
Senior Account Executive
Not really we know everything hence we keep seeking advices & help.
revenuegenerator
Praised Answer
0
Sales Management
That equity is on the higher end, but not completely unexpected for very, very early stage sales head.

I would look at where your leads are going to come from at the new company and derive my decision off of that. Getting attention is tough these days and there needs to be multiple pipelines that are generating leads. What's the company strategy here?

This new company most likely has zero brand awareness. You said yourself the other two companies you built to $1M were largely inbound driven. Does this new company have the same potential, or are you going to be launching cold calls yourself and that's it for lead gen.

Also, at the new company, do they have any customers or design partners? What are users saying about the product. I would want to know that.

Lastly, what's the exit strategy? Is this relationship intelligence app a tool or a platform? Will they get gobbled up by a larger platform, or are they thinking they can build this into a platform itself and go public? Getting the CEO's taking on it will help you understand how long of a ride you're potentially signing up for.
wolfmaster
Valued Contributor
0
Senior Account Executive
@revenuegenerator- Since its a new company, I would be required to do a Cold outreach & use existing relationship to pitch the product.

The current & last company were largely had leads coming through Inbound channel. This product is new and fairly known in terms of Brand awareness so, it would require an outbound effort.

They are currently raising 500K - $1 Mn in Seed Capital and have a handful of Customers experiencing the product.

It's actually a platform which is Data Heavy - An Individuals Network, Extended Network, Organisational Network & Stakeholder Mapping etc.
4

Negotiating equity package - what to look for??

Question
9
5

Equity paying out!

Question
15
How much have you made from your company equity grants?
60 people voted
13

Do you negotiate equity?

Question
14