Tagged Questions

1
vote
4answers
41 views

Non-dilutable options

I have an entity I've been working on for roughly 4 years, the last being a real push to get it out the door. A student recently joined me and got us into a student business plan competition and we ...
4
votes
2answers
251 views

Left my startup pre-launch. What percent equity is fair?

6 months ago I quit my job to start a startup with two other people. I'm the business guy. I worked full-time on the project from day No. 1, and made substantial contributions to branding, customer ...
1
vote
2answers
94 views

How do divide up equity if I'm providing the idea, mentoring and a smalll amount of funding

I have what I think is a really good idea for a product/business. I don't have time to develop it so I'm thinking of sharing the idea with some entrepreneurship students at a local university. I ...
2
votes
3answers
156 views

What to do with equity if co-founder / early employee quits?

I founded a company on my own a couple of years back. Got a couple of small clients on board and started making money (not a lot!). Worked for 1 year on it alone and decided to get an excellent ...
0
votes
0answers
16 views

Dividing equity for a Management Buyout

I currently work as CTO and VP Engineering with a company that has offered to sell the company to the President. The president and I originally started this company that was acquired several years ...
0
votes
0answers
61 views

Fair equity/cash for one year's contribution?

So I asked a broader question on this situation before, but am now trying to narrow it down to the core issue after negotiations failed yet again with my co-founders. I am a tech guy who joined a ...
1
vote
1answer
155 views

Splitting equity between founders

X was working part-time on an idea and after about a year and a basic demo in hand, he talked to two potential people (A and B) who would become co-founders but would work part-time just like X. The ...
1
vote
2answers
81 views

Equity split for non day-to-day founder

I wish that my equity situation for my new company were easy; unfortunately it's not - so I'd love feedback and thoughts. I met with a well connected business person (we'll call him Karl), and he had ...
3
votes
0answers
118 views

Equity for First paid Tech-employee in a not-profitable financed Startup

I'm trying to be as specific as possible here: We are a Startup 5 months on the go with three co-founders. Since none of us can truly code we need to employ our first Web-developer and we have found ...
3
votes
1answer
133 views

How to estimate value of non monetary and non working hours contributions?

Suppose a startup has 5 founders with the next contributions... 1: X hours of work in the startup. 2: A patent (the design of a product never produced). 3: $50K of funding. 4: Marketing skills. 5: ...
-1
votes
2answers
148 views

Equity splits for new company are threatening to tear it apart before it gets off the ground

hope to get a few outside opinions here. The cast of the saga: "M" - the "idea person", has experience, has (or will have) money from property in near future, unemployed at present "B" - A ...
3
votes
1answer
948 views

What's a good ratio between founder equity and early employee equity?

I'm looking into the equity for the 2nd employee of an early-stage startup. I've seen lots of rules of thumbs out there (some people say 1%) but it's hard to apply because some rules of thumb refer ...
-1
votes
2answers
207 views

What title to give to a non-founder first person in company

This question is a follow up to another question but it stands as a question by itself so i decided to ask it separately.. i am a single-founder starting a company and hence looking for ...
2
votes
8answers
1k views

20% equity and CTO. (Story and details). Is this fair?

This is a long exposition. Please bear with me, I think that I need to provide as much specifics as possible, while keeping it as short as possible. Thanks for reading, any feedback is much ...
8
votes
1answer
2k views

How to Divide Up Your Company's Equity

We get a lot of questions about dividing equity and for good reason. Dividing up your startup's equity creates a lot of heart burn for all of us. It's a tremendously stressful affair if you have never ...
12
votes
8answers
2k views

Should we award equity based on specific performance metrics?

My team and I are nearing the launch of our initial product this August. We are wanting to develop a metrics-based system that will be implemented upon product launch that will determine founder's ...
3
votes
3answers
316 views

If I launch a new division within my employer's company, should it be treated as a separate startup?

I've been working for my current employer for the past several years as CTO. I recently pitched them on starting a separate division that is more entrepreneurial and experimental to spin out ...
2
votes
1answer
254 views

Start-up team organization, shares and duties. Advice needed

We are a group of 5 people working on an idea for a start-up. The aim is to find an investor that would allow us to develop the project fully. Now we're just at the idea and presentation stage. 3 of ...
9
votes
1answer
448 views

Prenuptial separation agreement for cofounders

My apologies if this question has been asked before. I tried to find the answer reviewing other questions and still don't have the answer so here is the question(s): We are now setting up the ...
2
votes
3answers
390 views

Startup Equity question

I have a question about founder equity/partnership equity. Any advice would be most appreciated. Approx one year ago, my partner and I came up with an idea we think would work as a mobile and ...
5
votes
2answers
812 views

Stock Splits for founders

I know this has been addressed. However, each set-up is different and I want to proved the particulars on this one to get some thoughts. I need some help establishing an equitable Cap. Table. My ...
0
votes
2answers
552 views

Single Founder Vesting?

Does it make sense to sign a vesting restriction for myself, if I'm a single founder of my company?
3
votes
4answers
509 views

Startup organization before incorporation

I'm beginning a startup at my school. Right now its just me doing all the work, but i am gathering a team that will ideally be my co-founders. I wont be incorporating any time soon, but i will be ...
9
votes
11answers
3k views

What's a reasonable amount of equity to retain when you're the key founder?

I'm working with two other partners to get a SaaS startup off the ground. I worked on this thing slowly, mostly on my own, for about two years before approaching my partners. As a background, I knew ...
7
votes
4answers
840 views

How should founders treat their paid-in cash in a self-funded startup?

In a founder-funded company, how should the founders treat the cash that they contribute to the company? Should it be convertible debt? Equity (but the founders already have all the equity initially)? ...
4
votes
3answers
1k views

How is ownership of equity re-distributed at each stage of growth?

I've been researching for over a year now as an aspiring entrepreneur, but I am still fuzzy on how equity gets distributed at every stage of company growth. Is a set amount of "shares" created upon ...