During the company formation process through shortly after the official launch day (i.e. the founding team’s start date at OCV company), OCV will work with the founding team to complete:

Launch Day Checklist

Company launch process and what to expect

Typical company launch process takes 6 weeks at a minimum. Following:

  1. Founder(s) to sign indicative offer letter (official launch kick-off)
  2. Legal / incorporation process: 2-3 weeks
    1. Founders will need to sign engagement letter with legal counsel
  3. Bank account setup and funding (after regulatory filings): 1 week
    1. Founders may be required to complete KYC steps for bank application
    2. Founders to complete common share purchase prior to OCV SAFE funding
    3. Founders to send in their 83b Election to the IRS and confirmation with Legal Team
  4. Corporate credit card & EOR setup (after bank account is funded): 1 week
    1. Founders to sign EOR contract and complete founder onboarding in EOR system
    2. Founders may be required to complete KYC steps for corporate credit card
  5. Other core business systems setup / purchase founder equipment, etc. See

Investor and founder relationship

Even though OCV companies operate differently from the traditional venture-funded model, founders are still the final decision-makers. As CEO/CTO, you run the company. OCV does not override the decisions of the highest C-level person at the company.

OCV provides guidelines and suggestions intended to help you be successful and are often informed by previous experience. Our handbook is a living document is continuously updated with those recommendations but OCV is constantly adapting to new information. Giving OCV visibility into decision making can help us provide the guidelines and suggestions we think will be informative and make you successful. Either you take the advice, or you don’t.

Ultimately, you are accountable for the decisions and outcomes of the company. As a leader, all decisions and outcomes stop with you. The CEO makes final decisions and can never point up. You don’t want to be in the position where you are explaining to your reports that the reason you did something is that someone higher up said to do it. For example, a company has layoffs and the CEO says “the board made us do it.” That would be a very weak stance to take. Either you own the decision or don’t do it.

A short primer on how VC-funded companies work

Venture-backed startups are different from traditional companies that focus on profitability. Taking on venture investment is analogous to powering your business with rocket fuel - your growth is expected to skyrocket, at an astronomical pace. Sustainable unit economics is important (for example, spending more than $1 on customer acquisition to generate $1 in revenue is bad business), but VCs are not looking for profitability if the business supports strong margins and you’re investing in growth (i.e. engineering for new products and sales and marketing).

Assuming the same revenue base, a business that demonstrates high growth (even with negative profitability) will recieve a higher valuation than a business that grows at a lower rate even though it’s profitable.

When a company takes VC money, the potential outcome for that company in an exit can be significantly larger, but it also comes with a big risk of failure, and expectations of driving on large returns (think IPO). Founders should be ready to sign up for a big vision for their company when taking on venture investment. While the average outcome of a VC backed company may be higher, it's also important to consider the median outcome, as the vast majority of companies end up losing their investment. Starting a venture backed company is a big commitment, and it's important to evaluate if it's the best path.

OCV Founder Onboarding Program

During the first two weeks after launch, OCV Team will run through a structured onboarding module covering:

  1. OCV General Process Overview
    1. OCV Support Scope
    2. Quarterly Milestones & North Stars
    3. Board of Directors and Board Approval
    4. Bi-weekly meeting guide
    5. Public Handbook & Template
  2. Content Marketing
  3. Finance Operations
  4. People Operations & General Systems
  5. Hiring / Recruiting

Currently, the onboarding sessions are designed for a specific company (”NewCo”) launch and will be scheduled based on OCV & NewCo’s availabilities. However, founders of recently launched companies are welcome to attend these to clarify any process questions and catch up on the latest OCV guidance. These sessions will be recorded and follow our async meeting practice (Meeting Format & Etiquette). See guidance from OCV GP below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U224crEKo84

Asks of OCV Founders

OCV values speed and the spirit of iteration. We’re constantly learning & improving our processes to increase our velocity and adapting to changes. We have high growth targets just like our companies.