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>Be conservative with your equity. One of the easiest ways to scare off a technical co-founder is to offer 50% of your company in an initial email or meeting. F

>Be conservative with your equity. One of the easiest ways to scare off a technical co-founder is to offer 50% of your company in an initial email or meeting. Freelancers in particular take this as a sign of your trying to get free labor. 50% of nothing is still nothing. I completely disagree with this. You want to find a co-founder, not an employee. In the early stage your technical co-founder will be doing 90% of the actually work. To offer them a small equity stake because it's your idea is an absolute joke.

moped 14y ago
Plus, with a vesting schedule (~4 years), a potential co-founder would have motivation to stick around long-term, or cut his losses and move on.
buu700 14y ago
It doesn't sound like he was suggesting what you think at all. To me, it seemed like his advice boiled down to this: "If you want a technical co-founder, prove yourself and get some traction for an MVP first (it isn't impossible if you're committed). When you later meet with a potential co-founder, don't sound like you're desperately seeking the first person who knows how to fix a sinking ship."
IsaacL 14y ago
I would say the advice should be: don't offer equity too soon. I've met some random "business guys" at conferences who offer me an equity stake in their startup within moments of meeting me. That smacks of desperation and turns me off. It's like dating, the legit business guys who've interested me have got to know me first before discussing startup ideas. In particular, offering equity as part of a freelance arrangement is just dumb all round. It's a lose-lose situation. A freelancer wants cash, not lottery tickets in your non-existent startup. And giving away a chunk of your company to someone who's only going to be around for a few months hurts you too. I know there's one UK startup that was founded that way (built by a web agency that got a chunk of equity) and it caused no end of problems. Either get a co-founder who's in for the long haul and reward them with equity, or get a freelancer and reward them with cash.

moped 14y ago

Plus, with a vesting schedule (~4 years), a potential co-founder would have motivation to stick around long-term, or cut his losses and move on.

buu700 14y ago

It doesn't sound like he was suggesting what you think at all. To me, it seemed like his advice boiled down to this: "If you want a technical co-founder, prove yourself and get some traction for an MVP first (it isn't impossible if you're committed). When you later meet with a potential co-founder, don't sound like you're desperately seeking the first person who knows how to fix a sinking ship."

IsaacL 14y ago

I would say the advice should be: don't offer equity too soon. I've met some random "business guys" at conferences who offer me an equity stake in their startup within moments of meeting me. That smacks of desperation and turns me off. It's like dating, the legit business guys who've interested me have got to know me first before discussing startup ideas. In particular, offering equity as part of a freelance arrangement is just dumb all round. It's a lose-lose situation. A freelancer wants cash, not lottery tickets in your non-existent startup. And giving away a chunk of your company to someone who's only going to be around for a few months hurts you too. I know there's one UK startup that was founded that way (built by a web agency that got a chunk of equity) and it caused no end of problems. Either get a co-founder who's in for the long haul and reward them with equity, or get a freelancer and reward them with cash.