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It does sound like a bees nest of problems. I much prefer just splitting 50/50 and having both founders kick as much ass as possible. This does force you to b
by mrtron 18y ago
It does sound like a bees nest of problems.
I much prefer just splitting 50/50 and having both founders kick as much ass as possible. This does force you to be able to rely on your cofounder, but that is probably is a good idea (and unavoidable) anyways.
- tptacek 18y agoThe bigger problem than unfairness is that if you split 50/50 between two founders, you're screwed when you want to bring a third person in to do partner-level work.
- mrtron 18y agoThat would be a tough situation, with no great solution. Am I wrong in thinking you either bring in people from then on as employees? I can't picture bringing on a 3rd and giving them a full founder stake down the road, and the middle ground is very tough.
- tptacek 18y agoNot allowing yourself to bring in key contributors in the future is an awfully big handicap to accept. Allocating equity from a large pool, vesting and granting to the original founders as time goes on, and leaving a lot of headroom for future contributors seems like the right play.
- mrtron 18y agoIf I am giving someone equity from an equity pool - I wouldn't consider them a founder. But that may just be semantics. Bringing in another founder down the road could work - it would just be a non-trivial decision to make regarding the split. Which slightly differs from what I originally, but I didn't mean to say I would completely rule that possibility out. I definitely agree if you want to get and retain good people, having headroom in your equity pool is important.
- brk 18y agoYou mention that you "prefer" this. IMO, this can never work, but I'm curious how/where it's worked successfully for you that you prefer it. What if you realize that you need to add more executive-level people or even just regular employees to the company, or raise money?
- mrtron 18y agoI was referring to the founder split in the company. Providing an employee option pool or raising funds would equally dilute the founders.