Adeo Ressi

While browsing a legal site aimed at start-ups that was mentioned on TheFunded.com, I saw this article:

http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/2007/12/22/what-is-series-ff-stock/

Hmm. Series FF stock does not seem all that special. Basically, it is stock that you can sell to investors in later rounds with the preferences of the later rounds as long as everyone and their mother let’s you do it. The later stage preferences only kick in for the buyer if the stock is sold. It does incent founders to increase stock price.

When I first heard about the concept and the approach taken by the Founders Fund, I was impressed. Now that I am digging into the details, I am a little more skeptical.

My (rough) idea for an equivalent mechanism is a “Super Preferred” being offered to founders and Angel investors. This class of stock would always maintain equal or greater preferences to all other investors with the usual equity transfer restrictions applied to founders.

Not only does the Super Preferred allow the founder to take money off of the table by selling some portion of the “Super Series,” which will always be super until IPO, but it also provides the earliest investors and hardest working group of founders a good return in most exit scenarios. What is wrong with that?