Found+READ: Comments by Aydin Mirzaee

Aydin Mirzaee — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:43:33 GMT

salaries were brought up here… any suggestions on how to determine what to pay?

Aydin Mirzaee — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:43:57 GMT

Excellent story. This definitely does reflect reality. The most important thing is not to be afraid to change. When starting/running a business, you should “expect” to change with the environment. It may hurt the morale of the team in the beginning, but it is a necessity. Great Post!

Aydin Mirzaee — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 00:27:03 GMT

should you arrange for a vesting schedule amongst co-founders even before receiving financing?

Aydin Mirzaee — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:59:09 GMT

Bill, thanks so much for the response. You made excellent points. I agree… very wise comments indeed :) Babak, the reason I brought this up is because our lawyer was trying to push this amongst the founders… I guess he brought on some doubt amongst the founders in the beginning… we did decide not to go with a vesting schedule because as Bill eloquently mentioned, we realized that it does make us look like we don’t even trust in ourselves as founders. I have to say, this was an excellent article and a great source of information.

Aydin Mirzaee — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:17:07 GMT

Hi Andrew,

If there is a possibility of legal action against you (even a slight possibility), I would definitely form a legal entity to protect you and your assets. Make sure to keep yourself as an individual separate from your company.

Another point, I’m not sure if you will be looking for investors in the future. Regardless, everyone knows that a successful exit usually means selling the company for a good value or going public. But, don’t make it public that your goal is to sell. Focus on building the company and running a successful business.

I hope you find this useful…

best regards,
Aydin Mirzaee.

Aydin Mirzaee — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:27:05 GMT

Om,

I have to say though, that pulling your investment is a hard thing to do. At the same time, what about the concept of never giving up? Changing the model as much as you have to until it works… of course, this does have its limit too. Many entrepreneurs are called crazy for what they do… but if often takes this unreasonable nature of the entrepreneur to make things successful. Of course, in the end, this all depends on context.

Aydin.

Aydin Mirzaee — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:15:16 GMT

Andrew,

Just wanted to add that its great to talk about your business with others. When you do talk to others, tell everyone about your problems, like you have here. You’d be surprised at the useful feedback that you’ll receive. As the CEO, take everything with a grain of salt, and in the end, its you that makes the decision. Hearing what other people think never hurts. Don’t be surprised that people will criticize 99% of the time rather than complement you on what you’ve done. Its human nature, criticizing is just really easy….

hope this helps,
Aydin.

Aydin Mirzaee — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:38:51 GMT

Could you possibly provide us with a bit more context about your business. This may help us post better feedback. Is there any area that you’d like to more about first?

Aydin Mirzaee — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:22:35 GMT

I cannot even count the number of times that I’ve heard news so bad that I’ve seen all my dreams shatter in front of my eyes… just when I think all hope is lost, something else comes along that provides hope again… I’ve come to realize that you have to be like a “speed bag”... the faster you get hit, the faster you have to learn to come back.

Aydin Mirzaee — Sat, 05 May 2007 16:51:43 GMT

Babak, what do you say to the “no shop agreement” if your investors suggest it? What is a typical strategy to use?