Good Leaver vs. Bad Leaver: What Happens to Your Founder Equity When You Leave
A bad-leaver exit can claw back vested founder shares at cost. Negotiate narrow cause, good-reason rights, and file IRS Section 83(b) in 30 days.
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Founder Resources
Financial resources and tools for startup founders
Single-Trigger vs. Double-Trigger Acceleration: What Happens to Your Vesting When Your Startup Is Acquired
Single-trigger vests your equity at closing; double-trigger also needs a qualifying termination within ~12 months. Know which your grant has.
Startup Advisory Shares, Explained: FAST Tiers From 0.1% to 1%, Two-Year Vesting, and When an Advisor Earns Options Instead of Cash
Advisors earn 0.1% to 1% on the FAST grid with two-year vesting; NSOs tax the spread at exercise, restricted stock needs a Section 83(b) election in 30 days.
Rule 144, Explained: When Founders, Employees, and Early Investors Can Actually Sell Restricted and Control Stock
Rule 144 allows resale of restricted stock after a 6-month or 1-year holding period; affiliates must also meet volume limits and file Form 144.
Gen Z Founders Now Outnumber Baby Boomers in New Business Starts — Here's the Launch Playbook
Gen Z started 9% of new US businesses in 2025 vs 5% for Boomers; 60% of founders used AI to launch. Five money moves for leaner year-one startups.
Startup SPVs Explained: How Special Purpose Vehicles Keep Your Cap Table Clean
An SPV pools many angel checks into one LLC and one cap-table line; backers pay 10–20% carry plus setup fees, and the lead votes the whole block.
Venture Debt for Early-Stage Startups: Borrow Runway Without Selling the Company
U.S. startups borrowed a record $68.8B of venture debt in 2025. Warrants cost 1-5% dilution, but covenant breaches - not missed payments - trigger most defaults
The IRS's New Form 15620 for 83(b) Elections: What Startup Founders Need to Know About Filing Online in 2026
Form 15620 can now be submitted through an IRS Online Account, but the 83(b) election's 30-day deadline still has no routine extension. How the election works, when it pays, how to file online or by certified mail, and the six mistakes that sink it.
Elder Financial Exploitation: A Business Owner's Guide to Protecting Aging Parents' Money
Banks tied roughly $27 billion in suspicious activity to elder financial exploitation in the year ending June 2023, per FinCEN. A practical guide for business owners — the five scams draining parents' accounts, the warning signs to watch in their finances, how to get read-only visibility without starting a family fight, and the bookkeeping rules that protect you if you end up holding the power of attorney.
Your QSBS Win Is Federal-Only in California: What Founders Owe the State on a 'Tax-Free' Exit
California does not conform to Section 1202, so a QSBS gain that is 100% excluded federally is taxed in full at state rates up to 13.3% — a $4 million exit can leave a founder owing roughly $350,000–$450,000 to Sacramento. This guide covers the 2025 QSBS expansion's new three- and four-year tiers, why California repealed its own exclusion, the real math on graduated brackets and the 1% surcharge, and what an FTB residency audit demands from founders who move before selling.
Section 1202 QSBS After the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Tiered Holding Periods, the $15 Million Cap, and Trust Stacking
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rewrote Section 1202 QSBS — a tiered 50/75/100% gain exclusion at three, four, and five years; a $15 million per-issuer cap; a $75 million gross asset threshold at issuance; and non-grantor trust stacking that can lift a founder's combined exclusion well past the single-taxpayer limit.
Section 1202 QSBS Exclusion: A Founder's Guide to $15 Million in Tax-Free Gains
Section 1202 lets founders, early employees, and angel investors exclude up to $15 million of capital gains from federal tax. This guide covers the OBBBA changes, the five eligibility gates, the new 3/4/5-year tiered holding period, Section 1045 rollovers, and stacking strategies that multiply the per-issuer cap across family members and non-grantor trusts.