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I come from perhaps the small subset of a being good friends w/ my co-founder, having a 50/50 split, and being the technical one ....so that sets up context for

by ookblah 16y ago

I come from perhaps the small subset of a being good friends w/ my co-founder, having a 50/50 split, and being the technical one ....so that sets up context for my thoughts. I resonate w/ this article a lot because to me, the appearance of fairness trumps everything. The 50/50 split lets me know that I don't have to worry about who does what exactly or who is working harder, but sets it up so we are both "all in". I feel like if you're debating equity split at that stage (provided you're both at the same point, quitting your job, etc) you're already setting up a rocky relationship. Either that or you're not really finding a co-founder, more of a dedicated employee. I guess I'm just a little unclear on how you can define clearly what a "60/40" workload split looks like when they might not even be the same type of work.

bconway 16y ago
Except the problem with a 50/50 split is that it's rigid and you both need to be contributing equally all the time, which will never, ever be the case. I guess I'm just a little unclear on how you can define clearly what a "60/40" workload split looks like when they might not even be the same type of work. That's one of the advantages. It's fluid. 60/40 isn't measurable, but if you know you're providing more value than the other founder, it's going to be close enough unless the other one stops working entirely.
- zck 16y ago
  >60/40 isn't measurable, but if you know you're providing more value than the other founder, it's going to be close enough... The problem, of course, is that you have to convince the other founder that you're doing 50% more, will always do 50% more, and should get 50% more equity, without poisoning the working relationship.
- portman 16y ago
  >> and you both need to be contributing equally all the time You lost me there. My wife and I have a 50/50 split on life, but we don't both contribute equally "all the time". Sometimes one of us will go out to dinner with friends and have an awesome meal while the other one struggles to puts three snotty, sick kids to bed. Certainly not equal contribution that night. The beautiful thing about a 50/50 split in any partnership -- be it a marriage or a startup -- is that you don't have to keep track of every nickel and dime of contribution.
  - robryan 16y ago
    That is a 50/50 partnership, it will eventually even out or it will probably fail. Sometimes in startups for whatever reason founders won't be putting in the same amount of work and it won't even up for the foreseeable long term.

by ookblah 16y ago

bconway 16y ago

Except the problem with a 50/50 split is that it's rigid and you both need to be contributing equally all the time, which will never, ever be the case. I guess I'm just a little unclear on how you can define clearly what a "60/40" workload split looks like when they might not even be the same type of work. That's one of the advantages. It's fluid. 60/40 isn't measurable, but if you know you're providing more value than the other founder, it's going to be close enough unless the other one stops working entirely.

zck 16y ago
>60/40 isn't measurable, but if you know you're providing more value than the other founder, it's going to be close enough... The problem, of course, is that you have to convince the other founder that you're doing 50% more, will always do 50% more, and should get 50% more equity, without poisoning the working relationship.
portman 16y ago
>> and you both need to be contributing equally all the time You lost me there. My wife and I have a 50/50 split on life, but we don't both contribute equally "all the time". Sometimes one of us will go out to dinner with friends and have an awesome meal while the other one struggles to puts three snotty, sick kids to bed. Certainly not equal contribution that night. The beautiful thing about a 50/50 split in any partnership -- be it a marriage or a startup -- is that you don't have to keep track of every nickel and dime of contribution.
- robryan 16y ago
  That is a 50/50 partnership, it will eventually even out or it will probably fail. Sometimes in startups for whatever reason founders won't be putting in the same amount of work and it won't even up for the foreseeable long term.