It sounds like you are attributing a lot of value to several months work and a few months pay. Consider this venture over the next decade - these months are ju

It sounds like you are attributing a lot of value to several months work and a few months pay. Consider this venture over the next decade - these months are just a rounding error in the lifetime of a successful startup. It matters a lot more whether this person can influence the success of the company - you describe someone who can learn and grow into additional roles, those are really good talents on top of which they have a functioning work relationship. So really it comes down to whether your friend wants a cofounder, and secondary to that is whether this person meets the grade looking forward where almost all the work is yet to be done. If not then your friend needs to take that possibility off the table and explain how the employee's future exists within their larger plans.