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I am working on my project full-time w/o income for a while, now it's getting to the end and I need someone with marketing experience to on board and help out, and a technical guy for final testing/polish, should they be considered as co-founders? I don't have budget to pay them at this moment. Or should I just dedicate a portion of equity to each of them for their hard works? both way, how much of percentage I should give them? they both have/keep their day time jobs

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good reading here: answers.onstartups.com/questions/6949/… – Paul Cezanne Dec 8 '11 at 20:51
I'm going through the same thing and am basing my compensation on Joel's thoughts, not entirely, but close. – Paul Cezanne Dec 8 '11 at 20:52
Also think about it from exactly the opposite direction: if you're the technical guy, how much compensation are you giving to @tom? Why? What has @tom done that makes that compensation worth it? – James Moore Dec 18 '11 at 0:42

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Mainly I liked Joel's approach and, for me, the co-foundership is directly linked to the risk and value (resources, contacts, collaboration on the solution building) each person takes on the project.

If someone adds value (regardless of the area or kind of resource) and is taking enough risk (you should reckon how much) he/she deserves to be your co-founder. But one point that may change your decision is:

  • Do you see yourself working closely with this person every day for many years?
  • Do you trust him/her?
  • Do you discuss/argue with this person constantly or frequently?
  • Do both of you have similar vision for the product and/or the project?
  • Do you complement him/her and your skills adds to his/her skills?
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