My dad built a $100M startup. Here's what he told me when a VC asked for 40% of KOgenie

杰瑞发布于2025-05-23

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My dad built a $100M startup. Here's what he told me when a VC asked for 40% of KOgenie .
我爸爸创办了一家价值1亿美元的初创公司。以下是当一位风险投资家要求获得KOgenie 40%的股份时，他告诉我的。
Had a conversation with my dad this Sunday that really stuck with me. He built a startup from scratch, scaled it to $100M+, and has been through the trenches. I was telling him how a VC I spoke to recently offered funding but wanted 40% equity.
这个星期天和我爸爸的一次谈话让我印象深刻。他从头开始创办了一家初创公司，将其规模扩大到1亿美元以上，并一直在努力。我告诉他，我最近采访过的一家风险投资公司提供了资金，但希望获得40%的股权。
I thought it was ridiculous and he confirmed it was.
我认为这很荒谬，他证实了这一点。
Here’s what he told me (paraphrasing, but close): “A startup has five key stages. Pre-product. Product. Product-Market Fit. Growth. Stability. If you survive, you'll raise money around five times. The goal is to dilute intelligently, not desperately.”
这是他告诉我的（转述，但很接近）：“一家初创公司有五个关键阶段。产品前。产品。产品市场匹配。增长。稳定。如果你生存下来，你将筹集大约五倍的资金。目标是明智地稀释，而不是拼命稀释。”
He gave me his rule of thumb for dilution:
他给了我他的稀释经验法则：
Pre-product:
20%
20%
Product:
20%
20%
Product-Market Fit:
15%
Growth:
12%
12%
Stability:
10% That’s more than fair by the time you’re worth something serious.
10%到你值得认真对待的时候，这已经太公平了。
Then he said this: “Any investor asking for 30 to 40 percent in the first round either doesn’t know how startups work or they’re betting you don’t.”
然后他说：“任何在第一轮中要求30%到40%的投资者要么不知道初创公司是如何运作的，要么他们打赌你不知道。”
Most first-time founders, myself included, don’t realize how much early over-dilution screws you in the long term.
包括我在内的大多数首次创业者都没有意识到，从长远来看，早期过度稀释会让你付出多大的代价。
Giving away half the cap table in your first raise because you’re desperate for cash? That’s how you end up a glorified employee in your own company.
在你第一次加薪时，因为急需现金而放弃一半的上限？这就是你最终成为自己公司荣耀员工的方式。
Anyway, we figured that more people need to hear this. There is such a thing as smart dilution. And if your gut says 40 percent is too much, it probably is. Don't get played.
不管怎样，我们认为更多的人需要听到这个。有一种叫做聪明稀释的东西。如果你的直觉说40%太多了，那可能就是了。不要被耍。
What’s the rule of thumb all of you founder folks know regarding equity dilution?
关于股权稀释，你们这些创始人都知道什么经验法则？