What's the best branding opportunity for a venture capital partnership? Conference sponsorship looks desperate. Fancy office space inappropriate. But Peter Thiel's Founders Fund has hit on a good spot to display its initials: on an entrepreneur's share certificate. The iconoclastic venture capital partnership, which has invested in startups such as Powerset and Engage, offers "Series FF" stock to founders. Its special power? Entrepreneurs, who usually have to wait until a public offering or a rich acquisition before their common stock is worth anything, can sell Series FF shares in a subsequent venture round. As a sweetener for cash-starved and impatient entrepreneurs, Series FF is attractive; as a trademark for a new VC firm, it works too.
