While I second the advice not to swap contact for equity, I might swap his getting me the contacts and getting the deals done for equity. 50% seems quite steep

While I second the advice not to swap contact for equity, I might swap his getting me the contacts and getting the deals done for equity. 50% seems quite steep to me though for that; I'm with whoever said 5% but even that might be too high or too low depending on the value of the contracts he's able to get signed. One word of caution, OP - be very careful of people on HN telling you absolutes. I see it over and over on this site: smart people are quick to offer advice in the form of, "This is how you should do it. That other way is ridiculous. {I|my friend} did it like this and we know it works." Careful... Just because one person says one thing works doesn't mean it will work or is right for you. And I don't mean to douse anyone's flame on this thread; I'm just trying to add a bit of perspective.