4 ms·

I have a strange counter point.. I am married, I started a company with my wife after I put about a year into the product. Technically, we split it 65(me)/35(h

I have a strange counter point.. I am married, I started a company with my wife after I put about a year into the product. Technically, we split it 65(me)/35(her) from a company perspective. We came to these terms based on what each person brought to the table. On the other hand, now that we are married we do actually "go to war" together and have only joint accounts. The mutual success and splitting everything evenly worked well for marriage. But it honestly made no difference for the company. We both work hard, we both enjoy the challenge, but in the end thats now what the equity split was about. The equity split (to us) meant who had more assets (time, money, explerience, etc) to bring to the table. We wanted just compensation, and we felt it was/is fair. I think that's the only "fair" way to do it. I'm not going to marry my co-founders (at least not any more), so it should just be based on trade. On the other hand, if you're just starting off and plan to work equally hard, 50/50 would be fair. Giving arbitrary rules for every situation seems like a bad time.

swalsh 10y ago
Doing a startup with a spouse sounds like a dangerous situation on 2 levels, 1 you're crossing streams. A bad day at work can lead to a bad day home or vice-versa. The second is you're no longer diversified. If you go bust, you don't just lose 1 income stream, you're down 2. There's a third point related to the first. If your business expands, and you bring in another decision maker on any level it creates an unfair power dynamic. You have 2 motivations instead of only 1 professional. You may disagree with your wife on a critical decision, and you may be right, but it may behoove you not to dig in your fists to keep your home life happy.
- lettergram 10y ago
  I agree with all three in general, but disagree for this situation. How many small business owners run a family business? How many farms are family owned? Historically, almost all ventures were taken as a family. From 10,000 years ago until about 75 years ago. All that being said, there is a clear definition of who does what and those streams don't cross. As for the power dynamic, to be honest it has impacted our ability to get funding. Although, I think personally it should be the reverse. As you pointed out, we live and die by this. Which means our incentives are more aligned than ever.

swalsh 10y ago

Doing a startup with a spouse sounds like a dangerous situation on 2 levels, 1 you're crossing streams. A bad day at work can lead to a bad day home or vice-versa. The second is you're no longer diversified. If you go bust, you don't just lose 1 income stream, you're down 2. There's a third point related to the first. If your business expands, and you bring in another decision maker on any level it creates an unfair power dynamic. You have 2 motivations instead of only 1 professional. You may disagree with your wife on a critical decision, and you may be right, but it may behoove you not to dig in your fists to keep your home life happy.

lettergram 10y ago
I agree with all three in general, but disagree for this situation. How many small business owners run a family business? How many farms are family owned? Historically, almost all ventures were taken as a family. From 10,000 years ago until about 75 years ago. All that being said, there is a clear definition of who does what and those streams don't cross. As for the power dynamic, to be honest it has impacted our ability to get funding. Although, I think personally it should be the reverse. As you pointed out, we live and die by this. Which means our incentives are more aligned than ever.