What is a Term Sheet?
A Term Sheet just to be specific is an agreement between you as an entrepreneur and an investor — a series of terms you think that matter. Some key values of the term sheets include what the valuation of the business is, how much investment the company is getting and for what percentage. Early Term Sheets are for entrepreneurs who are raising seed and angel capital, which is what we will focus on this article. Personally, I like to keep them simple, not a lot of bells and whistles, not a lot of rules.
However, Term Sheets can vary depending on what type of funding round you are in, and how much is at stake, as well as who is involved. If you decided to go for Series A & B rounds, your Term Sheet is going to get more complicated which includes who’s going to be on the board and how many board seats are there, what happens when the board voted for you as a CEO to step down. Yes, I know right, if it’s not for the movie I recently watched, I always thought the CEO represents the top of the ladder and they exercise full control over the company.
There is a great set of templates available online put together by Fenwick & West (National Law Firm) and Andreessen-Horowitz (Silicon Valley VC Firm).
Breaking Down the Term Sheet
Pre-Money Valuation
According to Investopedia, Pre-Money Valuation refers to the value of a company not including external funding or the latest round of funding. Pre-money is best described as how much a startup might be worth before it begins to receive any investments into the company. This valuation doesn’t just give investors an idea of the current value of the business, but it also provides the value of each issued share.
To calculate the value of your shares for the current round using Pre-Money Valuation, it’s not rocket science. Let me walk you through this, assuming the Pre-Money Valuation is at $3,000,000, we will divide that by the existing number of shares (10,000,000 for example)=price of shares at which new investors will buy. Hence, $3,000,000/10,000,000=$0.30. Each share would cost $0.30.
Post-Money Valuation
On the other hand, post-money refers to how much the company is worth after it receives the money and investments into it. Post-money valuation includes outside financing or the latest capital injection. It is important to know which is being referred to, as they are critical concepts in the valuation of any company.
To put it simply, Post-Money valuation is Pre-Money valuation + Amount Raised. Let me walk you through the calculations, given the same amount of Pre-Money valuation as the previous example, at this round your company raised $1,000,000 and hence your Post-Money valuation would be $3,000,000+$1,000,000=$4,000,000.
However, if the calculations get more complicated as the company grows, this is a great online Post-Money valuation and Pre-Money valuation calculator to generate the numbers for you.
Preferred vs Common Shares
When a business wants to raise money by attracting investors, it can do so by issuing stock: common stock or preferred stock. There are many differences between preferred and common stock. The main difference is that preferred stock usually does not give shareholders voting rights, while common stock does, usually at one vote per share owned.
Common stock allows its holders to make a profit through rising share prices and dividend payments. Holders of common stock also get to vote on corporate issues, such as electing new directors to the corporation’s board. For example, Detour Gold Corp. interim CEO Michael Kenyon resigned 3 months ago following a vote by shareholders and hence the company took an entirely new direction because of common stock shareholders.
However, should the company end up in bankruptcy, holders of common stock are last on the list to get their money back. Putting it simply and plain, if you hold common stock and the company goes bust, you are unlikely to get any of your capital back. For more in, see The Motley Fool.
Preferred stock also represents owning a share of the company, but it works a bit differently than common stock. Preferred stock pays a predetermined dividend, whereas the dividends paid to common shareholders tend to vary according to the company’s fortunes. Dividends on preferred stock are often larger than those on either common stock or the company’s bonds. Holders of preferred stock do not get a vote on company matters. And if a company’s assets are liquidated, the preferred stockholders get to redeem their shares before common stockholders do, giving them a better chance of getting at least some of their money back.
For most investors, common stock is a better deal. It’s slightly riskier than preferred stock but will usually show a slightly higher return as well. If you want to enjoy the potentially high returns of a stock investment but want to minimize your investment’s volatility or your exposure to company-specific risk, the preferred stock might be a better choice. Preferred stock may also be better if you’re looking for a source of income you can depend on, as the dividends paid on such stock are fixed. But whichever class of stock you choose, be sure that it’s an investment you’ll feel comfortable holding over the long haul.
Participating or Non-Participating Preferred
Non-participating preferred typically receives an amount equal to the initial investment plus accrued and unpaid dividends upon a liquidation event. See more at STARTUP COMPANY LAWER. Holders of common stock then receive the remaining assets. If holders of common stock would receive more per share than holders of preferred stock upon a sale or liquidation (typically where the company is being sold at a high valuation), then holders of preferred stock should convert their shares into common stock and give up their preference in exchange for the right to share pro rata in the total liquidation proceeds. Non-participating preferred stock is favoured by holders of common stock (i.e. founders, management and employees) because the liquidation preference will become meaningless after a certain transaction value.
“Participating Preferred” also typically receives an amount equal to the initial investment plus accrued and unpaid dividends upon a liquidation event. However, participating preferred then participates on an “as converted to common stock” basis with the common stock in the distribution of the remaining assets.
Participating Preferred stock is favoured by investors because they will receive a preferential return over both low and high exit transaction values.
A perfect example by founders workbench to illustrate what is going on is the following. Assuming company A has one series of non-participating preferred stock with a liquidation preference of $6 million representing 50% of the capital stock of Company A. If Company A were to be sold for $10 million, the investors would receive $6 million (as the $6 million investment amount is greater than the preferred’s 50% share of the $10 million sale proceeds) and the remaining $4 million of proceeds would be distributed to management. Company B also has one series of preferred stock with a liquidation preference of $6 million representing 50% of the capital stock of Company B, but its preferred stock is participating. Upon the same $10 million sale event, the investors would receive $8 million (the $6 million liquidation preference plus 50% of residual $4 million of sale proceeds) and the remaining $2 million of the proceeds would be distributed management. Thus, in the same $10 million sales, the difference between participating vs. non-participating preferred resulted in a $2 million shift in economics away from management to the investors, which represents one-half of the return that management would have received had the preferred stock been structured as non-participating.
Potential Red Flags in a Term Sheet
After breaking down various important key terms in a Term Sheet, let’s dive into what red flags to look out for in a Term Sheet.
1) Review Period
Some Term Sheet will include a Review Period that allows them to pull the Term Sheet after it’s been signed. Including this is like saying your investors assume there’s a high chance that the deal will fall through, which is ironic since it’s counter to investor norms. That being said, reputable investors would not issue a Term Sheet with a review period if their business diligence is done and they are confident towards the deal.
2) Change in Management
As discussed earlier, your board of directors could replace the CEO if they deemed the CEO to be not a fit. However, these can be done without specifically including it to the terms. If this term appears in your Term Sheet, remove it. Investors would rarely willing to invest in a company where they immediately hope to remove to CEO, and of course, frankly speaking, this is quite rude as well.
3) Guaranteed Exit (within 5 years)
Last but not least, guaranteed exit. This basically means the founder legally commit that they would find a buyer for investors’ shares within 5 years. Startups have unproven economic business models. More likely than not most startups are still experimenting or pivot in the initial years. It is unknown how long this could take because it differs from case to case. 5 years is perhaps when they figured it out what worked and what does not. Lots of opportunities for capital to be returned will arise organically over the life of your company and hence if the investor wants an exit within 5 years, no doubt this is a huge red flag to look out for.
Conclusion
As you can see, the Term Sheet can be really quite scary and exciting for new startup founders. If you are pursuing Seed or Angel round funding, Term Sheet is usually less complex and provided by the investors whereas if your company is more mature in the future and decided to go for Series A & B funding, the Term Sheet is usually created by the company. Are you a startup seeking funding during Seed or Series A? We are here to help!
Don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram!
Subscribe to receive exclusive content and notifications!
About VenturX
VenturX is a web platform that helps entrepreneurs through their journey from idea to launch and beyond. VenturX uses data-driven analytics to score and connect startups and investors at Seed and Series A financing.
