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?
The short answer
Yes, but only if both of you agree, and the window is closing fast. Before you raise and before real value exists, a re-split is a hard honest conversation and some paperwork. After investors are on the cap table it needs their sign-off and becomes painful. If the split genuinely no longer reflects contribution, reopen it now with data on who did what, not resentment. The alternative is one founder quietly checking out while holding 40%.
Go deeper, your way
3 hand-picked resources, 3 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
📄 Article
✓ Link checkedFreeIntermediate
Why we picked it
This walks the exact mechanics of moving equity from a 40% founder to a 60% one, and it splits the guidance into two scenarios: before money is raised (surrender-and-reissue shares at nominal value, clean and cheap) versus after (409A valuation, tax exposure, real friction). It is the concrete 'here is how the paperwork actually works' answer, not a pep talk about fairness.
Why we picked it
The India-specific piece that tells you where the split actually gets signed. It separates the founders' agreement (equity, roles, IP, vesting between you) from the shareholders' agreement (your terms with investors), and stresses the timing that trips Indian founders up: get vesting in writing before shares are issued, because you cannot bolt it on retroactively once the cap table exists. It also breaks down good-leaver vs bad-leaver treatment, which is the clause that decides what a departing cofounder actually keeps.
Document cofounder equity and vesting at or before incorporation and before shares issue, since Indian law makes retroactive vesting nearly impossible without every founder consenting
The 4-year vest with 1-year cliff is standard in India too, with unvested shares forfeited to the company at nominal price in a bad-leaver exit
Negotiate clear, objective good-leaver vs bad-leaver criteria and ensure already-vested shares are retained regardless of how you exit
Why we picked it
This is the tool for the exact fight you are having: it scores each founder across Idea, Business Plan, Domain Expertise, and (crucially) Commitment and Risk, then hands you a number. Demmler states plainly that a founder who is all-in is worth far more than one who will 'sit on the sideline and be cheerleaders,' so you can move the argument off feelings and onto a shared spreadsheet. Run it twice: once at today's real commitment, once assuming the part-timer goes full-time, and the gap is your renegotiation.
Commitment and Risk is a weighted equity factor, not an afterthought: the person keeping a salary scores lower on it, and the math reflects that
Opportunity cost counts. Someone who forgoes a career to join full-time is contributing something the hedging co-founder is not, and the pie should show it
It turns a resentment conversation into a numbers conversation both of you fill in together, which is far easier to survive than 'I feel like I'm doing more'
