While I was Co-Founder and COO of Atomos Space, I juggled executing on the company's vision with meeting the obligations of all stakeholders. As founders, we charge ahead with what we think is best. When it comes to issuing shares in your company, however, the IRS, SEC, and the State of Colorado have much to say on what you can and cannot do. The Securities Act of 1933, the Uniformed Securities Act, IRC 409(a), IRC 83(b), SEC 701…The variety and complexity of equity compensation can be convoluted and time consuming.
In my new role as VP of Finance and Investments with The Millstone Evans Group, I want to help founders, start-ups, and employees learn from my experience (and mistakes) so that they can make better, faster decisions and get back to building. In this overview of equity compensation, I talk through the basics of corporate governance, the nuances of a Stock Incentive Plan, and the implications of the three most common types of grants given to employees.
As a founder or early employee at a SaaS startup, design decisions can make or break your product adoption and growth trajectory. Yet most startups struggle with when to invest in design, who to hire, and how to evolve their design practice as they scale. Drawing from experience leading research and design at Fuego UX, this session unpacks practical frameworks for implementing effective design processes at each stage of your startup journey.
We'll walk through the essential design milestones that align with your funding rounds and business goals - from DIY design in the earliest days to building sophisticated design systems as you scale. You'll learn when to hire your first designer, how to leverage fractional design talent, and when to build an in-house team. We'll explore practical methods for sharing and testing designs with real users, documenting feedback, and transforming insights into actionable product improvements.
For founders without design backgrounds, you'll gain actionable strategies to develop your design intuition and vocabulary, helping you make informed decisions even before you can afford dedicated design talent. For technical teams, we'll cover collaboration models that integrate design thinking throughout your development process.
By the end of this session, you'll walk away with:
A stage-appropriate design roadmap aligned with your current growth phase * Hiring guidelines for design talent based on your product maturity * Simple but effective user testing methods that won't break your budget * Strategies to evolve your design system as your product grows * Frameworks for cross-functional collaboration around design
Bring your specific design challenges for the Q&A portion, where we'll tackle real examples from the audience.
