
Ask HN: Knowing how much equity to split when your co doesnt do the tech? - adawg_4
Ive worked on building the platform and validating the idea. He&#x27;s been getting an audience engaged. I want to do an equity split soon but dont know how much I want to give but want him to be as involved as possible!
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andymoe
If you’re early and there are two of you do 51/49 so you can break a tie
before investors get involved. Don’t forget the standard 4 year vesting with 1
year cliff for both of you. There is so much non tech stuff to do in a startup
you really want them all in as soon as possible. This should all be part of a
proper operating agreement document and the sooner the better.

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uberman
Great answer, but one thing we need to know before we can offer a split is how
much "skin each person has in the game".

The OP stated that they have been building product while their partner builds
an audience. That could be a 50/50 split for sure. In fact, it could easily be
a 20/80 split if the time invested in the product was minimal compared to the
time invested in customer acquisition.

Additionally, validating the idea is not the same as having or presenting or
articulating the idea.

To determine a split you should jointly determine the true value that each
partner has invested at risk.

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jt2190
This is a wrong-headed way of thinking about it in the early stage, IMHO,
because it gets everyone into the mindset of _I do x, and you _only_ do y_ ,
instead of the mindset of _what I bring has no value by itself and what you
bring has no value by itself but _together_ the knowledge, skills and hard
work we bring are worth something_.

It’s almost impossible to predict (or even tease apart afterwards) what things
increased value and what did not. So forget about trying. Understand that
ventures are risky, and focus on getting from zero value to something of
value.

If you’re seriously concerned that your partner isn’t fully dedicated, an
uneven equity split won’t fix that.

~~~
jt2190
I remembered that this is essentially Joel Spolsky’s thinking, as well:

Equity for Startups
[https://gist.github.com/isaacsanders/1653078](https://gist.github.com/isaacsanders/1653078)

