Key Employee
A Key Employee is an employee who plays a significant part in a startup’s success and has a major ownership and/or decision-making role in the business. Key employees are usually founders and C-level executives. Key employees may have certain restrictions or be tied to certain provisions in a later-stage financing round.
Example:
Our Series A round terms mandated that we get key man insurance on the founders and that each of the key employees grant a right of first refusal to Series A investors on transfer of their equity.