E972 Robbed of Equity: Toptal with The Information's Amir Efrati & former employee Scott Ritter
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- "Robbed of Equity": Toptal denies any shares to employees & investors. Amir Efrati of The Information on breaking the story, founder Taso Du Val's stock hoarding, unusual tactics & changing landscape of startup-investor relations; then former employee Scott Ritter on his ~8-year tenure, not receiving earned share worth $2m & life after Toptal
1:00 Jason intros the Toptal situation and Amir
3:00 Amir on breaking the Toptal story
3:20 Frequency of compensation issues in startup funding
13:45 Jason explains convertible notes
16:10 Did Taso Du Val know what he was doing?
22:00 How can Toptal investors cash out?
29:15 What do LPs think of SAFE agreements and convertible notes?
30:20 Toptal is a cautionary tale for employees & investors
35:59 Jason’s thoughts on convertible notes/SAFE agreements
57:40 Jason’s main takeaway from the Toptal situation
1:07:15 How Jason would fix equity issues at Toptal
1:08:58 Jason intros former Toptal employee Scott Ritter
1:11:03 Scott’s thoughts on missing out on equity as one of the first Toptal employees
1:12:28 Taso Du Val as a boss and co-worker
1:14:15 Were there stock option promises made to employees?
1:20:55 Taso Du Val’s thought process on equity
1:25:10 Jason explains why he is so upset about this issue
1:27:45 Scott describes what attributed to Toptal’s rapid growth
1:31:40 Jason introduces #boycottToptal
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/ twistartups
Jason, you are absolutely right, this CEO screwed these employees in a major way. Nothing beats early equity on a billion dollar business, you can’t work enough to replace that, high risk, no reward here, this is a damn shame!! You have a right to be upset 😡.
I appreciate Jason's righteous passion on this topic and also that he used it to plug the guy's Scrumspot company.
But I do think he should have declared is investment in Gigster at the start of the podcast rather than the end as doing a whole show doing down a rival to a company he has shares in could be misconstrued.
damn jason. i love your candidness. i want to be like you when i grow up (im 29). you deserve all the returns youve made as an angel and then some. and im sure youll keep getting more.
thanks pal!
What would have been a good protection strategy for an employee (or early investor)?
I love how you just call this guy out and don't sugar coat it. SUBSCRIBED.
What an informative episode. Thanks Jason and TWIST team.
Cameron Blackwell thanks for supporting the show!
Why are we blaming YC combinator for investors not doing their due diligence? Every document in a safe should be seen by a lawyer so they can thoroughly comb through it. All of the documents in a safe are negotiable. All deals especially equity deals should always be documented because people will change like the wind. No handshake only agreements!
Cypher360clothing the only fault to “handshake” agreements is the standard of integrity to which each person holds.
When/if the company is eventually sold the safes will convert no doubt and proceeds will be received by the investors/employees? Or he just keeps clipping the dividend stream perpetually to avoid the ‘funding/liquidation’ event. Also I assume this is fixed in later SAFE documents?
My dear friend Scott, I miss you. . I still can't believe this. RIP until we meet again my friend
Also, read the Glassdoor reviews...
love the content but it is 100+ mins. Is there are a source for transcripts?
TWIST thank you for this. This literally could be worth millions of dollars for those who listen and are involved in entrepreneurship.
Thank you for supporting the show :-)
Could be priceless, allows for a greater ceiling. Thank you kindly for this episode.
Jake Shak thank you for tuning in🙌
I noticed that the like button doesn’t get hit too often but that makes sense to me due to audience. Thanks again.
@@startups , in relation to 37:20 marker of this episode - www.engadget.com/2019/09/06/uber-driver-loan-program-survey/
If the smartest money in SV signed open ended SAFE agreement then thats on the schmucks in the firms and their attorneys. Nobody can tell me if the roles were reversed that those same investors would have discovered a generosity gene and taken a decision like this in the founders favor. Internal teams, co-founders etc I agree with but then again this outcome is not so different than in the vast majority of startups, even successful ones, where they have to wait for acquisition or IPO to cash out.
Thank you for the insight into YC combinator Jason - shocked to say the least... need to do my due diligence
Was researching Toptal to be a freelancer.....I'll keep looking for another platform to freelance on
am i alone wondering about the title the white book behind ??
It's Jason's book Angel, one is in Japanese the other is in Korean.
@@pkgadgvlogs mmm got it! thanks a lot .. i appreciate your care :)
Dear Jason, thank you for this episode! Super educational and very useful to hear some non-mainstream arguments on important SV players like YC. Take care!
Davor Debrecin Thanks for supporting the show 🙌🏻🙌🏽🙌
Im so fed up seeing their fucking ads on RUclips, coz stupid google doesn't offer premium in my country
As one of Tt's first 20 FTEs, having spent years there, and experienced some real highs and lows... thanks for this. PS - my boy Scott coming off like the sexy rockstar that he is. 🤩🤩
I watched 10-15 minutes and it wasn't said what they actually did -- the specifics. Just mention of a scam and robbery. Wish that was in there.
19:20 😨
Fucking awesome episode. Go Mayor Jason!
🙌🏻🙌🏽🙌🏼🙌
I killed the Hartford in Texas. He had 21 points!