Template · 6 min read

What are customary stock vesting terms for startup founders?

Clerky Free Intermediate

This is the concrete clause mechanic your answer needs. Clerky spells out that vesting normally commences on the date shares are issued, and then gives the exact adaptable structure for crediting full-time work: if a founder worked full-time for 12 months before shares were issued, issue 25% fully vested with the remaining 75% vesting over the next 36 months. Invert that logic and you have your part-timer clause: no early credit, vesting commencement date set to the day they quit their job.

• Standard founder vesting is four years with a one-year cliff (1/48 per month after month 12), and the default vesting commencement date is the day shares are issued.
• You can move the vesting commencement date and pre-vest a chunk to credit prior full-time work, which is the same lever, run in reverse, that lets you start a part-timer's clock only on the day they go full-time.
• Because the mechanic is just a commencement date plus a vested-percentage split, you can adapt it into plain clause language your lawyer drops straight into the founders' agreement.