Podcast · 35 min

Co-Founder Equity Mistakes to Avoid

Michael Seibel · Y Combinator Startup School Free Beginner

The audio version goes deeper on the practical mistakes: unequal splits that breed resentment, forgetting vesting, and treating the split as a reward for past work rather than an incentive for the next four years. If you prefer listening on a commute, this covers the co-founder side thoroughly. It pairs well with reading a data driven guide on the early engineer side.

  • Split for the work ahead, not as payment for who had the idea
  • Always put every founder on four year vesting with a one year cliff
  • Resentment from a lopsided split can sink the company later
Listen on Apple Podcasts ↗

The question it answers

  1. What equity should I offer a technical co-founder vs. an early engineer?

Read with it

  1. The definitive, data-driven book on early founding-team decisions, drawing on quantitative research covering nearly 10,000... Princeton University Press Book · ~480 pages The Founder's Dilemmas Noam Wasserman
  2. The canonical dynamic-equity framework for fairly splitting ownership based on real contributions before funding, when nobody... slicingpie.com Tool · Framework + software + handbook Slicing Pie: Dynamic Equity Split Model & Calculator Mike Moyer
  3. Altman's condensed operating manual for founders, including sharp guidance on focus, spending your time on what only you can... playbook.samaltman.com Article · long Startup Playbook Sam Altman
  4. This is the essay to read first, from a YC partner who co-founded Justin.tv/Twitch and has done equal splits across his own... Y Combinator Essay · ~8 minute read How to Split Equity Among Co-Founders Michael Seibel
  5. A free, no-signup calculator that forces you and your co-founder to actually weigh the inputs (idea, roles, who is full time,... Foundrs Tool · ~10 minutes to work through Foundrs Co-Founder Equity Calculator Foundrs
  6. When a term sheet lands and you are tempted to fight over the last point of valuation, this is the essay that reframes the... paulgraham.com Essay · 12 min read The Equity Equation Paul Graham
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