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Startup equity · checked 11 November 2026

Founders hold shares, split close to equal and vested over four years with a one-year cliff; employees get options; the cap table records it all.

A cap table lists every shareholder, their shares and their percentage, issued and fully diluted; keep it in a spreadsheet until you grant ESOPs or raise, then move to software such as Qapita or EquityList. Employees get ESOPs from a shareholder-approved pool, often about 10% at seed and 15% by Series A, and Indian investors usually take CCPS. Model every new round in the cap table before you sign.

Every question on it 25 answers

  1. What is a cap table, and how do I keep one? Starting Up
  2. How should co-founders split equity fairly? Starting Up
  3. How much dilution should I expect across seed and Series A? Starting Up
  4. How does startup equity work for founders and employees? Starting Up
  5. What equity should I offer a technical co-founder vs. an early engineer? Starting Up
  6. How do I split equity and put a vesting schedule in place at incorporation? Starting Up
  7. How should I handle equity or contracts for a co-founder, advisor, or contractor sitting in a different country? Starting Up
  8. How do I structure a startup when I have a non-technical co-founder and a technical one, so the entity and equity reflect real ownership? Starting Up
  9. How should I split equity and think about founder salaries when neither of us has money and we don't want a fight later? Starting Up
  10. How much of my company should I still own after seed, Series A, and beyond? Starting Up
  11. How should I split equity with my cofounders before I raise? Starting Up
  12. How much equity should I give a startup advisor? Starting Up
  13. How should my co-founder and I split equity, and is 50/50 a mistake? Starting Up
  14. What does co-founder vesting actually mean, and why do I need it even if we trust each other? Starting Up
  15. Should I give a co-founder equity or a salary if they join after I've already started? Starting Up
  16. What is vesting and why do I need a vesting schedule? Starting Up
  17. Should I use a dynamic equity split like Slicing Pie instead of fixed percentages? Starting Up
  18. What happens to equity if a co-founder leaves early? Starting Up
  19. Should co-founder equity be split before or after we have raised any money, and does it matter that one of us is putting in cash? Starting Up
  20. How do we structure equity when one co-founder is full-time and the other is keeping their day job for now? Starting Up
  21. As a solo founder, how much equity should I give the first employee or advisor who is helping me before I can pay a salary? Starting Up
  22. What is the difference between issuing shares to a co-founder and giving them stock options, and which should I use in an Indian private limited company? Starting Up
  23. How does founder equity actually get taxed in India, and will I owe tax the moment I get my shares or when I sell? Starting Up
  24. We split equity 60/40 a year ago and it now feels wrong because one of us did far more. Can we still change it? Starting Up
  25. I am a first-time founder outside the big metros and my co-founder is in Bengaluru. Does where we are based change how we split equity or set up the company? Starting Up

The readingMost used across these answers

The terms

Cap TableFounder Equity SplitVestingDilutionESOP

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