Since you are in the early stages, go with 1/3 each, anything else will potentially cause a lot of headaches down the road. Having equal equity creates a healt

Since you are in the early stages, go with 1/3 each, anything else will potentially cause a lot of headaches down the road. Having equal equity creates a healthy environment where everyone feels that they should put in as much work as they can. If the others have less equity than you, they probably won't be as motivated as you are. And even if they were, you'll likely start to question whether they are working hard enough, whether they really want the company to succeed etc. This will cause a lot of unnecessary tension. So I think you should bite the bullet, give up some equity in exchange for better odds of succeeding. Also, some kind of vesting may be a good idea if you don't trust you cofounders enough yet. (I was in a somewhat similar situation like you about a year ago, went with 1/3 each and I'm still very happy with that decision.)