Startups
How Startup Accelerators Actually Decide Who Gets In
Owen BlackwoodA shortlist, a ten-minute interview, and a bet on the team — the selection machinery explained without the mythology.
Startups
Startups coverage from Honey Badgers AI.
Startups
What a SAFE Actually Is, and How It Converts to Equity
Owen BlackwoodThe Simple Agreement for Future Equity became the default pre-seed instrument after Y Combinator launched it in 2013 -- here is the mechanism, from valuation caps to the 2018 post-money rewrite.
Startups
The 83(b) Election Runs on a 30-Day Clock the IRS Will Not Reset
Owen BlackwoodSection 83(b) lets founders tax unvested equity at grant instead of at vesting, but the statute allows exactly 30 days from the transfer date and the regulation bars revocation over a fallen valuation.
Startups
Startup Shutdowns: What a Decade of Postmortems Keeps Repeating
Owen BlackwoodFounders keep writing the same farewell essays — running out of money is how startups die, but the postmortems say the money ran out because of five upstream causes.
Startups
Solo Founders vs Co-Founders: What the Base Rates Say
Owen BlackwoodThe industry's pro-cofounder folklore is real but weaker than advertised — the data supports solo founders who choose it deliberately, and the failure mode is picking a co-founder to satisfy the market.
Startups
Acquihires: How Talent Deals Get Priced and Who Gets Paid
Owen BlackwoodThe acquihire pays for engineers, not the company — and its arithmetic decides who walks away with something and who walks away with a job offer.