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From his former role as CFO of Oracle to his current position as co-CEO + CFO of a SPAC, Jeff Epstein has earned plenty of scar tissue with invaluable experience as a CFO for both private and public companies. Jeff shares his views on CFO best practices, navigating the transition from public to private, the “why” of SPACs, and more.

Veteran CFO Lee Kirkpatrick guided Twilio to and through its IPO from 2012-2018. Now he’s an active board member and executive advisor to both venture-backed and public companies. Lee shares his views and best practices for exercising greater empathy, up-and-down the organization, as a cornerstone to being a strong leader in the company.

While discussions about mental health in the workplace have always been critical, the unending parade of uncertainties and challenges in 2020 has heightened the issue’s size, scale, and intensity. Our friends from Lyra Health and Culture Amp lead The|Circle group to dig deeper into the frameworks and statistics around mental health, map that data to the tech workforce, and explore different benefits and resources for employee support.

2020 has introduced a wide range of new, unpredictable variables to consider when financial planning for the future. The|Circle convened this week to discuss different planning approaches, including scenario planning, general planning advice, and tactics for communicating these plans to the board.

Despite a global pandemic and recession, CFO Tim Bixby recently helped steer Lemonade to one of the best IPO debuts of 2020.  Having traveled the entire startup-journey through IPO more than once (LPSN, SSTK), Tim has the critical experience and insight into the leadership and strategy necessary to be a successful CFO.

Representing 40% of the entire IPO market today, SPACs are quickly becoming an alternative way for venture-backed companies to go public.  But what exactly are SPACs?  How do they work? How do they differ from a traditional IPO? And why the recent hype?

CFO’s touch upon so many aspects of the business and a critical one is owning and managing the majority of a company’s software stack. The CFO|Circle convened to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of the software they are using today, best practices for implementation, and if there should be a specific role hired to manage the stack.

A sharing of ideas and experimentation’s on this rapidly evolving area to support working parents during distance learning and shelter in place. By all accounts, everyone’s kids will continue to be at home for distance learning with their schools. Under all circumstances, it can eat into their productivity and cause friction in their work satisfaction. What do we (companies) do?

This Circle|Call series was focused on figuring out how to invite employees back to the office (or continue supporting them remotely) with peer-to-peer first-hand accounts and benchmarking data on what is and isn’t working in this herculean endeavor.

Complimenting as well as contrasting points of view by Dave Dorman and Sid Sijbrandij were shared with leaders of The Circle on how leaders can be available, communicative, and vulnerable to drive desired attitudes and behaviors throughout the organization and across all stakeholders.

The Circle community came together with a stellar cast of subject matter experts (Damla Gerhart from CBRE, Melissa Hanley from Blitz, Eric Pfeiffer from Corral and Shannon Magari from Colden) in the areas of space planning, architectural/interior design, and workspace ergonomics to discuss how once employees are on-site, how to drive desired perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors through human-factors and ergonomics design.

We take “invest in people” to heart. Each month we try to get to know a team member a little bit better and each time we are left in awe. See why.

The Circle gathered this week with our consumer-focused CEOs and CFOs to discuss the consumer tech market playbook, from the perspectives of public company CEOs, CFOs, and Boards. Umi Mehta & Shaan Tehal of Morgan Stanley joined the group to synthesize for them what they’ve learned from scores of public company leadership conversations.

The Circle gathered this week with a broad group to discuss the top of mind topic of health and safety of their employees back at the office, all of whom have been directly dealing with this subject matter every day since the onset of shelter in place.

The CEO|Circle + CFO|Circle came together with Paul Kwan, Head of Morgan Stanley’s W. Coast Tech Group, and Melissa Knox, Global Head of Software, to discuss Morgan Stanley’s software market playbook which they’ve synthesized from scores of public company leadership conversations they’ve held. 

 The CFO|Circle was joined by Kevin Grumberg + Grant Fondo + Derek Cohen of Goodwin and Courtney Dorman + Amy Koch of Brunswick who offered a framework for assessing and managing risk with respect to audits, lawsuits and unwanted publicity around the PPP loan.

The CFO|Circle came together with Adam Steinberger + Michael Barrett + Dennis Minich of Andersen Tax and Kevin Grumberg of Goodwin to discuss the loan forgiveness provisions under the CARES Act and the latest Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) developments. 

The CFO|Circle (65 attendees!) convened to discuss a topic most don’t ever want to live through, but now many are – Reduction in Workforce (RIF). Together they’ve identified the do’s and dont’s of executing a RIF, from where to start to what to offer and how to best communicate with their employees.

CFO|Circle convened to discuss burning topics during the Pandemic of COVID-19. As always, and especially now, leaning in and helping each other navigate through unprecedented times.

The CEO|Circle was joined by Nader Kabbani VP of Amazon Flex and Last Mile Logistics to discuss best practices for COVID prevention and recovery for fulfillment facilities.

Peers of the CEO|Circle and CFO|Circle convened on a discussion w/ Ken Loveless, a Managing Partner here at Founders Circle Capital and veteran of SVB on “Managing Your Company’s Debt During the Current Downturn.”

The CFO|Circle came together with Steve Liu (Shareworks, SVB, KPMG) to share insights on whether the current volatile market might impact valuations of private companies and, if so, steps CFOs might take to position their companies for this reassessment.

CFO’s, today’s “Risk Officers”, convened with Rob Krolik (who leads the CFO|Circle Masterclass series) to discuss how to scenario plan around the financial downturn, including how to model cash preservation and assumptions to make around revenue and expenses.

We take “invest in people” to heart. Each month we try to get to know a team member a little bit better and each time we are left in awe. See why.

Focusing on employee retention can result in significant savings. Here are the pro’s favorite strategies and ideas to help retain their star talent

In a wide-ranging conversation, Chris Barbin from GGV capital shares what he did to retain employees and the importance of finding the reasons for attrition.

Despite offering competitive pay and benefits like paid parental leave and tuition reimbursement, startup turnover is still double the average. Find out why.

As more and more startups elect to stay private for longer, the mandated 10-year expiration date on incentive stock options is becoming a real problem.

Secondary stock sales have always been possible, but their popularity has soared in the last 10 years. Learn about the history secondary transactions & market.

A little-known tax incentive for investing in qualified small businesses can help investors get $10M tax-free.

Figuring out how to manage what type of equity to issue—Restricted Stock, ISO, NSO, or RSU—is an ever-present challenge for startups, with the best strategy changing as a company grows.

A reflection on life as a private company for over a decade and the importance of culture to sustain the team through the inevitable ups, downs, and pivots that any successful startup encounters.

For private companies, deciding whether and how employees may sell shares can be tricky. On one hand.

Building a great technology start-up to and through a financial exit happens to a rare few.

Countless workers have been hit with surprise tax bills after they exercise options, the result of Internal Revenue Service rules that haven’t always been friendly to startups.

In Silicon Valley, a tender offer that allows longtime employees at high-performing startups to get some liquidity is fast becoming an expected benefit. While secondary stock sales have always been possible, their popularity—and legitimacy—has soared in the past 10 years as successful companies put off IPOs in favor of staying private

Three ways to maximize charitable giving and considerations around giving globally. Identify and execute on creative ways to implement your bold ideas quickly.

If you are facing a potential taxable event from shares you acquired in a private company, understanding the ins and outs of Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) just might ease the pain of one of life’s inevitabilities.

This article explores some of the many ways that a founder can get the liquidity they need and continue to build their business for the long term.

The market for private company equity sales, also known as the secondary market.

In our September article “Exploring Founder Liquidity Options”, we described some ways that

While secondary stock sales have always been possible, their popularity—and legitimacy—has soared in the past 10 years as successful companies put off IPOs in favor of staying private

In this post, SVB summarizes some of the most impactful provisions of the TCJA, and provides practical actions for you to consider.

Randy Adler, Partner at Fox Rothschild, explains why the traditional private company lifeline no longer applies and why companies are staying private longer.

Will Skinner, Partner at Fenwick & West’s Silicon Valley office, discusses the applicability of the QSBS in the context of secondary transactions and M&A events.

Kristine Di Bacco, Partner at Fenwick & West, provides an overview of Rule 701, an exemption that allows private companies to issue equity to their employees.

Ryan Logue, COO of Nasdaq Private Market, breaks down the types of company disclosures generally made available in a private tender offer.

Ryan Logue, COO of Nasdaq Private Market, gives an overview of the history of the private company secondary market, including a discussion of how it has evolved and current trends.

Ryan Logue, COO of Nasdaq Private Market, gives an overview of the trends in private company secondary liquidity and how companies use NPM’s structured liquidity services to facilitate shareholder liquidity.

Jim Fulton, Partner at Cooley LLP, discusses the various options available to founders of private companies looking for partial liquidity in their shares prior to an exit event.

Will Skinner, Partner at Fenwick & West’s Silicon Valley office, discusses the types of companies that qualify under the QSBS rules.