There's really no right answer -- it depends on the situation. But your friend is correct that 50-50 split is rarely the right way to go. Judging from how you

There's really no right answer -- it depends on the situation. But your friend is correct that 50-50 split is rarely the right way to go. Judging from how you worded your question, it sounds like you might be overvaluing your idea, and undervaluing your programmer. Disclaimer: I'm a programmer-founder myself, who regularly turns down deals just like what you're proposing, so there may be some personal bias in my answer :) To test my theory, which of the following statements do you more agree with? A. "The idea is more valuable than the programmer - I could probably hire anyone smart enough at programming to implement the idea, and use my knowledge to guide them in the right direction." B. "The programmer is more valuable than the idea - I'm relying on their knowledge to know what to build. The idea might even change over time once they start building stuff." --- Anyway, here are some things to consider when deciding how to split the founder shares: How much time will each of you be spending on the project? It's very easy to underestimate programming tasks. If your programmer is spending 80 hours a week and you're doing relatively little (as the "idea guy"), there will be friction. How much experience do each of you have in projects like this? Do either of you bring anything else to the table - connections, clients, seed money? What are each of you prepared to give up to make this project happen? Consider time spent not doing other work. Will both of you be quitting your jobs for this? Cutting back hours? Also, how well do you know this person? Good luck!