Research
OCV actively conducts research on open source software projects and recruits founders to join our companies. As a general screening criteria, we would only consider projects with a minimum of 20 monthly MR/PRs or 5,000 stars on GitHub. See detailed research process at:
Research processesFounder Outreach
[Write-up in process] - Link to prospective founder pages.
Internal Approvals / Conflict Checks
New company approval processes consist of two parts:
1. GP Approval
OCV team prepares project summary and intended business plan (in the internal research doc) for GP review.
Founder (CTO) compensation sign off proposal to the GP should include:
- Founder Name (with LinkedIn profile)
- Title
- Cash Compensation (in USD equivalent; provide justification)
- Equity (following framework from Founder Shares Guidelines and provide support around experience level)
- Options Pool Size (and intended allocation reserves)
- Start Date / Timeframe (if known)
- Any additional offer details
2. GitLab Conflict Check
New companies need to pass a conflict check with GitLab prior to an offer being sent. The conflict check requires that an email be sent to the GitLab team with the following information:
- The name of the OS project
- A link to the project
- A one sentence description of what the new company will do
Offers & Acceptance
After internal approval, OCV team prepares a verbal offer (via email) to outline the following understanding:
- Company Name (typically TBD; ideal company name is the same as the open source project name, pending name availability research)
- Entity Structure: C-Corp or PBC
- Title
- Annual Compensation in local currency (and ~USD equivalent)
- Equity: % and vesting details
- Confirm whether founder would like to purchase common shares or receive options
- OCV Funding detail
- Options Pool
- Target Start Date
- Confirm purchase of existing domain name(s) for USD 1 (if applicable).
In this email, we also request founder’s mailing address, phone number, date of birth (for certain registration and banking system setup requirements).
Once a founder provides verbal acceptance of our offer, follow the process outlined below to draft and send out an indicative offer letter via DocuSign:
Founder Offer LetterIncorporation Process
OCV moves to company formation process below after receiving signed founder offer letter. Steps 1 and 2 may be discussed as part of the verbal acceptance process.
Step 1: Choose the company nameStep 2: Choose a legal entity structureStep 3: File incorporation paperworkStep 4: Issue equity to founders and advisorsStep 5: Establish the company’s options poolStep 6: Banking systems set upStep 7: Fund the business Step 8: Systems setupIn cases where a company is unable to secure Seed Round funding, OCV will follow wind down procedures below:
Company Wind Down