[author: Jared Brenner]

Some interesting links we found across the web this week:

Will tech IPOs come back to life in the fall?
2016 has been the slowest year for IPOs since 2009, likely because of new issues raised by recent tech companies going public, but VCs are beginning to hear rumblings of a resurgence. Here’s the latest update from VentureBeat, and be sure to click through to WilmerHale’s 2016 IPO Report (linked in the article) for a much deeper dive on the recent state of the market.

What to Know Before You Sign a Payment-by-Results Contract
Among the common legal concerns of most early-stage companies is ensuring that contracts with other service providers are clearly drafted to eliminate future disputes. As this piece from the Harvard Business Review reminds us, that clarity is more difficult to achieve when payment is contingent upon the subjective quality of the provider’s results, as opposed to an objective and quantifiable delivery from the provider. Payment-by-results can be useful, but be sure to proceed with caution.

How Big Does A Company Have To Be Before It Needs A Board?
You’ll technically have a board of directors from the day you incorporate, but how large or complex must the company be before the board begins to expand beyond the company’s founders? It’s most likely to happen after your seed round, but check out this piece from Forbes for a little more detail from a seasoned management consultant.

White House Proposes Loosening Restrictions For Immigrant Entrepreneurs
As we mentioned last week, an upcoming executive action on immigration is expected to make it easier for foreign founders to remain in the US for up to five years of active involvement in a startup. This week we caught this short interview on the subject with an immigrant VC who exclusively invests in immigrant entrepreneurs. Give it a listen for important perspective on an issue that is not going away anytime soon.

The Life-Changing Magic of Turning Employees Into Shareholders
Speaking of issues for next year, The Atlantic has a spotlight on employee profit-sharing plans that are an alternative to the option pool most startups use to incentivize their workers. The key difference is that, unlike options, profit-sharing plans give the employees a collective ownership stake in the company. Profit-sharing is likely too fraught with regulatory issues to be worthwhile for most startups, but it’s worth keeping in mind as startups’ voices in Washington grow louder with each passing year.