Co-founders, team & legal

Co-founder agreements & equity

Split fairly, vest always, write it down.

Showing 6 of 18 questions. Clear filters

How should co-founders split equity fairly? For most early teams, split close to equal, an even split signals you see each other as true partners, and long-term contribution rarely matches wh... Beginner 2 resources → What is vesting and why do I need a vesting schedule? Vesting means you earn your shares over time (the standard is 4 years with a 1-year cliff) instead of owning them all on day one. It's the single m... Intermediate 2 resources → Should I use a dynamic equity split like Slicing Pie instead of fixed percentages? Dynamic models like Slicing Pie allocate equity based on actual contributions over time, which is genuinely fairer at the pre-funding grunt stage w... Advanced 2 resources → What happens to equity if a co-founder leaves early? With vesting done right, they keep only what they've earned and the unvested portion returns to the company, which is exactly why vesting exists. W... Intermediate 2 resources → How do we handle deadlock when two co-founders own 50/50 and cannot agree on a major decision? A pure 50/50 split with no tiebreaker is a design flaw, not fairness. Build a deadlock mechanism into the shareholders agreement before you ever hi... Advanced 3 resources → What transfer restrictions should we put on founder shares so one co-founder cannot sell their stake to a random outsider? Lock founder shares down with a right of first refusal (the company and other founders get first dibs), plus a general transfer restriction requiri... Advanced 3 resources →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →