Founders and investors like to tell themselves they're on the same team, and they can be – but it takes work.

In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein sits down with Liz Zalman, a veteran founder with over 20 years of startup experience, for an in-depth chat about the real dynamics of the founder-investor relationship. Liz is also co-author (alongside VC Jerry Neumann) of 'Founder Vs Investor: The Honest Truth About Venture Capital from Startup to IPO’, one of Yaniv's favorite books on startups.

From re-vesting demands to acquisition offers that investors won't approve, Liz brings hard-won, unfiltered perspective to some of the most uncomfortable moments a founder will face.

In this episode, you will:
* Understand what re-vesting actually is, and the smartest way to respond when investors ask for it.
* Learn why taking a single dollar of venture capital puts you on a specific, irreversible path.
* Discover how to negotiate a term sheet from a position of strength, even when you're exhausted and desperate to close.
* Find out when and how founders can take money off the table – and why most quality investors support founders to have stability in their personal finances.
* ⁠Learn how Liz stress-tests potential investors while negotiating terms.
* Understand the real difference between valuation and control.
* Hear why listening is the single most underrated skill in a founder's toolkit.

Timestamps
00:00 Coming Up
00:50 On Today's Show: Founder/Investor Dynamics
02:14 Meet Liz Zalman, Author of 'Founder vs Investor'
02:52 Re-vesting: Why Investors Ask & How Founders Negotiate
06:28 Who 'Owns' A VC-Backed Company?
14:22 Negotiating Term Sheets Under Pressure (aka Finding Leverage When You’re Exhausted)
17:46 Finding 'Option C' With A Toxic Term Sheet
19:41 Is Fundraising Just Sales? Fix the Story, Handle Objections, Close the Round
23:13 Why Investors Want You Saying 'No' to a Great Exit
27:21 Competing Risk Appetites and De-Risking Without Selling
35:29 How Founders Can Protect Themselves
44:13 Managing Founder Emotions & Ego
50:38 Avoiding the Founder Echo Chamber
53:54 About the Book 'Founder vs Investor'
55:24 Fundraising For 'Sandgarden'
57:09 Closing Thoughts

Resources mentioned in this episode:
* Founder vs. Investor (book) by Elizabeth Zalman & Jerry Neumann, the book discussed throughout this episode: https://www.foundervsinvestor.com
* Venture Deals by Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson, referenced by Yaniv as "the bible of venture capital": https://www.venturedeals.com
* Sandgarden, Liz's current startup: https://www.sandgarden.com
* Liz Zalman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethzalman

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Key links
This episode of the Startup Podcast is sponsored by Vanta. Vanta helps businesses get and stay compliant by automating up to 90% of the work for the most in demand compliance frameworks. With over 200 integrations, you can easily monitor and secure the tools your business relies on. For a limited time offer of US$1,000 off, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://⁠www.vanta.com/tsp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This episode of the Startup Podcast is sponsored by .tech domains. Forget weird prefixes and creative misspellings; the availability for .tech domains is simply way better than .com. For a clean name that highlights your tech credentials, get a .tech domain at your favourite registrar.

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The Startup Podcast website: https://www.tsp.show/episodes/

Learn more about Chris and Yaniv
Work 1:1 with Chris: http://chrissaad.com/advisory/
Follow Chris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaad/
Follow Yaniv on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybernstein/

Producer: Justin McArthur https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcarthur
Intro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang https://web-strategist.com/

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