Founder stock vesting

Carolynn Levy, Jon Levy, and Jason Kwon explain the legal steps involved in starting a company, from incorporating and issuing founder stock to setting up a board, keeping records, and handling taxes. They recommend keeping the company’s finances and documents organized, using vesting for founder shares, and filing an 83(b) election promptly after buying stock. They also discuss common problems such as unpaid workers, unclear intellectual property ownership, founder breakups, and promises of employee equity. The panel answers questions about incorporation services, fundraising, hiring across borders, and when to seek legal advice.

Linda Xie and Avichal Garg explain the core ideas behind crypto, including blockchains, tokens, consensus, and smart contracts, then discuss where decentralized systems may be useful. They see payments and privacy as promising near-term applications, while many decentralized apps depend on solving scaling problems first. They also cover regulation, identity, governance, developer infrastructure, and the risks of token sales, arguing that founders should raise money thoughtfully and align incentives through vesting. The talk closes with privacy, government adoption, and ways people might begin using crypto without realizing it.