Co-founders, team & legal
Co-founder agreements & equity
Split fairly, vest always, write it down.
Showing 5 of 18 questions. Clear filters
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?
Split before you raise, when the company is worth nothing and the conversation is cheap. Cash a founder puts in is a loan or priced convertible, no...
How do we structure equity when one co-founder is full-time and the other is keeping their day job for now?
Do not give a part-time co-founder full-time equity and hope it evens out. Either delay their grant until they go full-time, or give them a smaller...
One co-founder wrote most of the code before we incorporated. Who owns that IP, and how do we make sure the company does?
Right now that co-founder personally owns the code, not the company, which is a fatal cap-table crack a diligence lawyer will find in five minutes....
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?
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 conv...
How do founder salaries and equity interact, and is it fair for the co-founder taking a salary to still hold equal equity?
Salary and equity answer two different questions: salary pays for work now, equity pays for risk and value created over years. A co-founder drawing...