The equity split is the founding team’s first hard conversation — and postponing it makes it harder. Shares issued are painful to unwind; clarity early is cheap.
What a fair split actually weighs
- Capital contributed — and capital committed for the road ahead
- Full-time commitment vs part-time involvement
- Idea, IP or assets brought in (valued honestly, not sentimentally)
- The role each founder plays in the years ahead, not just the months behind
Vesting: the mechanism that saves friendships
Founder shares earning over time — with a cliff — protect everyone from the co-founder who leaves in month six holding a permanent stake. Investors will expect this anyway; adopting it early signals maturity.
Keep the structure clean
A crowded cap table of relatives and helpers with tiny stakes complicates every future round. Advisors can be compensated through options rather than founder-grade equity.
Paper it properly
Founders’ agreement + articles aligned with it + share certificates issued on time — the legal trio behind a durable split.
We help founders structure and document equity — startup advisory · talk before you split.
