I think the important part here is to not take on things that will make you /less/ likely to succeed. Giving ownership to the wrong people will kill the compa

I think the important part here is to not take on things that will make you /less/ likely to succeed. Giving ownership to the wrong people will kill the company faster than anything else. Hell, even just taking on debit can change a company from one where you can learn from your mistakes to a failure after you make your first big mistake. (now, YC is probably the right people to give ownership to for some types of companies; I imagine if your revenue model is to sell the company to some silicon valley VC, the increased access to people wanting to buy is probably worth the 5%. It's probably a bad idea, though, for other sorts; It probably would not have helped my company much. (well, at least my company would have become something entirely different from what it is.)