In our series on startup hints & tricks here tips 5 & 6

5 – Time tracking pays

Well time tracking sounds so big lame company. And yet the effort pays. Why? It’s not about control but about the allocation of your most precious resource: Time. We simply want to know for what topics / development efforts we invest how much time. And to keep track of this only time tracking will do.

6 – Start with a good founding contract

Startup euphoria often obscures the fact that the majority of startups fail. Or that the business plan requires substantial rewriting. Or that a team member quits for perfectly valid reasons (A great love on the other side of the planet). Each point for itself is plenty of potential trouble.

For that reason a number of subjects should be dealt with before. Amongst them:

• - Decision-making among the founding shareholders
• - Exit clauses (for voluntary and non-voluntary leaving) inclusive of a formula for the repurchase price for the shares
• - Additional shareholder obligations of the founders (E.g. what happens with your shares if you divorce?)
• - Right of first refusal, pre-emptive right and tag along right