WTF: Startup Equity — Simplifying ESOPs, Term Sheets And Valuations For Startups

The year 2020 came with a lot of challenges for the Indian startup ecosystem. With the lockdown and severe disruption across sectors, tech startups strived to stay afloat and survive through the crisis. Despite this, tech startups secured a total funding of $11.5 Bn across 924 deals in the same year, as revealed in The Annual Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2020. And in 2021, the funding landscape has been transformed already with nine new unicorns coming up after a slew of mega-rounds.

As the new financial year begins from April 2021, startups are gearing up to evaluate their performance after the pandemic year and raise fresh capital. Here, early and growth-stage startups who are already grappling with the shifting trends in term sheets and valuations, also have to come to terms with the new buzzword — ESOPs or employee stock ownership plans.

While valuations and term sheets have always been vital in the fundraising process, more and more startups are realising that ESOPs form a crucial part of growth, talent retention, and a vindication of the scale achieved by the company. These days, ESOPs are being used as a way to distribute the wealth and the value generated by the tech startup — not just as a long-term incentive.

So what are the most critical aspects of term sheets, valuations, and ESOPs for the new-age founder? At what stage in its journey should a startup start rolling out ESOPs? What are the taxation implications of ESOPs? How can ESOPs be used as a way to retain and hire the best talent in the industry, which is often the competitive edge?

Inc42 Plus is answering these and many other questions on June 5, 2021, through ‘WTF: Startup Equity‘ — a one-day event focussed towards simplifying ESOPs, term sheets, and valuations for startups.

The daylong event will see experienced founders, investors, subject matter experts, and ecosystem enablers delved into the nitty-gritties of modern-day ESOPs, valuations, term sheets, and more via a series of fireside chats, masterclasses, panel discussions, and more.

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While it is obviously vital for founders to understand these aspects of fundraising and employee management, it is not for them alone. Employees also need to gain clarity on the clauses that come with ESOPs to ensure that they are getting the best deal out of it, or are not on the hook for high taxes in the future. The event will see stalwarts such as Siddarth M Pai, founding partner, 3one4 Capital; Lata More, partner and leader, valuations, BDO India; Sanjay Mehta, founder and partner, 100X.VC; Kushal Bhagia, CEO, FirstCheque and more.

What To Look Forward To In ‘WTF: Startup Equity

Brought you in association with My Startup Equity, the event will not only help founders and employees understand these terms and processes but also give them a peek into how they can be leveraged for growth and scale.

• Understanding, drafting, and adapting ESOPs
• How ESOP buybacks and accounting works
• The logic behind valuation and how to get it right
• Simplifying legal terms and clauses in an investment term sheet
• Viewing term sheets through the investor and founder lens
• How valuation and dilution works at the seed stage
• How investors view valuations — from the POV of angel investors, family offices and VCs
• Decoding the investor exit and liquidation rights

Who Should Attend This?

• Founders At Early Stage And Growth Stage Startups
• Senior VPs and Function Heads
• Human Resources & People Operations Managers
• Employees At Early & Growth Stage Startups

This event is ideal for anyone who is part of the journey at early-to-growth stage startups — employees, core leadership, and the founders themselves. It’s the easiest way to bring your knowledge up to speed with the latest trends and opportunities within the realm of term sheets, ESOPs, and valuations!

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