How does owning equity in a startup work? On day one, founders own 100%. As the company grows, equity is often exchanged for funding or used to attract employees, leading to shared ownership. If you have more than one founder, you can choose how you want to share ownership: 50/50, 60/40, 40/40/20, etc.
Different ways to split equity among cofounders Equal splits. Weighted contributions. Dynamic or adjustable equity. Performance-based vesting. Role-based splits. Hybrid models. Points-based system. Prenegotiated buy/sell agreements.
How will you split equity with your co-founders? The general thinking is that, before Series A, founders should retain a total of 50 to 70% ownership. You can decide how much equity you'd like to keep and move forward from there, allocating out the remainder as it makes sense.
Founder shares (also called founder stock) are a type of equity, usually common stock, issued to the founding members of a company immediately or soon after it's incorporated. These shares are typically granted before any outside investors come on board and establish the initial ownership of the company.
To establish a starting point for equity grants, we recommend using 0.75% as the “baseline grant” for your first hire. This percentage represents the equity grant for a technical, mid-level employee and serves as a reference point for your future calculations.
In summary, 1% equity can be a good offer if the startup has strong potential, your role is significant, and the overall compensation package is competitive. However, it could also be seen as low depending on the context. It's essential to assess all these factors before making a decision.
Equity: In early-stage startups, offering between 1% to 5% equity is common. The exact percentage depends on the COO's expertise and your startup's valuation.
Of ~22% in founders' equity. This pattern matches with the rule of thumb that dictates founders to park no less than 20-30% collectively for themselves at exit (in an ideal world).
Many believe that an equal split signifies fairness for all and the majority of founders begin with 50/50 equity splits.
If you started as a solo-founder and have made progress on the business (especially if you've already raised), you should consider a something along the line of an 80/20 split of founder shares. In fact, the range I'm seeing is anywhere from 5-20% for the 2nd co-founder.