STARTUP WEALTH

A guide to the financial aspects of entrepreneurship, both personal and corporate.

In this debut business book, Franklin draws heavily on interviews with veteran entrepreneurs willing to share the lessons they’ve learned. She also makes use of her own accounting and financial planning background to explore the areas entrepreneurs need to consider as they attempt to expand their businesses. The book breaks entrepreneurship into a three-phase cycle, from the initial idea to realizing the dream. Much of Franklin’s advice is focused on the “liquidity event,” the merger, acquisition or IPO that generally means a significant windfall for the founder. The book guides readers through the financial structures of such events, explaining both the contractual restrictions, e.g., stock vesting, as well as the tax implications of the large payouts. The extended sidebars and the main narrative incorporate advice from experienced entrepreneurs, some of whom have founded and sold multiple companies, as they share both their mistakes and their successes. The book’s audience is a relatively narrow one: Franklin restricts her discussion to technology companies, nearly all in the Silicon Valley area, and there are frequent references to entrepreneurs’ tendencies to work long days for little initial pay, driven by passion and/or the expectation of an eventual financial return. Readers who don’t fall into those categories might see limited value in the book. But those in the early stages of their own startups will find the book a useful tool, with its discussion of everything from key points to cover in negotiations with venture capitalists to reasons why founders should diversify their holdings as soon as they are able to begin selling the stock they hold in their companies.

A comprehensive handbook to the financial decisions that founders of technology companies must make, strengthened by a knowledgeable author and extensive expert interviews.