This Week in Startups · Thursday, September 10, 2026
Becki DeGraw explains that venture capitalists expect founder vesting to be in place, especially for early-stage companies. While founders who have already achieved significant traction (e.g., Series B with revenue) might negotiate less stringent vesting, VCs primarily invest in the founder's vision and expect them to stay committed to executing it.
“When investors are going to invest in a company, it's the founder's idea, their vision that the investors are excited about and putting their money in. Which means the investors want to make sure that those individuals are staying at the company to execute on that vision.”
“But if you've been working on this for four years, and this is your first round from first institutional investors, when investors are going to invest in a company, it's the founder's idea, their vision that the investors are excited about and putting their money in.”