The 0% Floor™
The named objective behind The Floor™ — architecture designed so a founder's downside isn't total dependence on exit timing.
I call the objective a 0% Floor™ — not a return target, but a description of what a founder’s downside should look like.
0% Floor™ is the name of the objective this practice is built around: a personal financial foundation designed so a founder’s downside isn’t total dependence on when — or whether — the company’s exit happens on schedule. It is a framework and an objective, not a guarantee of investment performance, preservation of principal, or a specific policy outcome.
The Floor™ is an architecture, not a single product, because the objective can be pursued in different ways depending on a founder’s circumstances. Properly structured life insurance may be one implementation of the framework where appropriate — but the objective, not the product, comes first. Insurance is one potential component of the architecture, not the architecture itself.
The Floor is funded progressively, from liquidity as it becomes available — income, realized equity, secondary transactions, tender opportunities, and eventually an exit — rather than by asking a founder to sell down a concentrated position before they’re ready to.
The goal isn’t to predict the exit. It’s to make sure a founder’s downside doesn’t depend on getting the timing right.
Important Disclosure
Strategies are subject to policy terms, conditions, costs, limitations, and insurer claims-paying ability. Specific guarantees, if any, are determined by the terms of the actual insurance contract, the issuing insurer, funding levels, and policy design — they are not guarantees of investment return or preservation of principal. Individual circumstances determine suitability. Market-linked features do not eliminate investment or policy risk. Tax treatment depends on applicable law and individual circumstances; consult qualified tax and legal professionals.