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Thanks, that's a valuable advice! And I fully agree that the raw numbers of hours is not a very good metric. But, from a pessimistic perspective, I'm unsure if

Thanks, that's a valuable advice! And I fully agree that the raw numbers of hours is not a very good metric. But, from a pessimistic perspective, I'm unsure if 1 or 2 months trial will be enough to be sure about that person, and to make such a strong commitment. One worst-case scenario could be that the third co-founder works passionately on the project for 4 or 6 months, and then for some reason looses interest / motivation / time.

csallen 16y ago
If you have a 4-year vesting schedule with a one-year cliff, then anyone who walks away before 12 months have passed leaves empty-handed. Anyone who walks away before 48 months have passed will be giving up at least a little. However, I think vesting only protects you from co-founders who quit. I'm not sure how you can deal with situations where a co-founder simply stops contributing (or only contributes an extremely minimal amount). HNers, and advice in this area? On a related note, splitting the company equally might not be the best decision. People are different, and as a result will contribute differing amounts. Later down the road, you don't want anyone to feel like he's doing a disproportionately large amount of work. Sit down and agree on what you expect from each other in terms of time, commitment, and effort, and make sure the equity is split fairly based on that.
nedwin 16y ago
I'll also add that I really like working with people who I can consider my equals or who are better than me. To give someone who is as good as me or better a lesser equity share when we're both pushing hard for the same thing doesn't make sense. Good luck in your search!