
Ask HN: How much equity in early stage startup for a developer? - jax_tr
How much equity should I get from a startup given the following:<p>- Worked part-time (after-hours and on weekends) developing prototypes for the product and iterating ideas for ~9 months without salary.<p>- As of now, the company is incorporated, the developer pool is currently allocated at 5%, with 80% in the founder&#x27;s pool.<p>- Am one of the 3 engineers on-board, the remaining 2 have been here before me (&gt;1 year) but I have the most experience. (&gt;5 years)<p>- Worked both on the Ops side (AWS&#x2F;Azure&#x2F;bare-metal) and on the application side. Developed the core infrastructure on which the current application is deployed.<p>If it helps, the product is targeted for third-world consumer markets and is being developed in a third-world country. All involved parties belong to the same country, although the company is incorporated in the USA too (for funding ease etc.).
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smt88
There are way too many variables in this situation for anyone to give you a
good answer. Even in simpler cases, it's hard to come up with a number.

You're in a really bad position because you're asking for compensation _after_
doing work. Regardless of how much equity you get, hopefully you'll learn the
lesson that you always negotiate clear terms (with a contract) before starting
to work.

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siegel
So, you've been working for 9 months with no agreements with the company? Did
you even assign the rights to the IP you are creating to the company? If not,
well, you likely have plenty of leverage.

smt88 is right that it's hard to come up with a number in this type of
situation. I don't think you should expect less than the other 2 engineers -
they'll be further along in vesting, which would account for the extra time
they've been working with the company.

But get this dealt with ASAP. You want your equity ironed out before the
company gets funding.

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smt88
I can't edit my post and want to mention something else.

If this idea takes off and you're known as one of the first engineers, you'll
still get something valuable: a stronger resume.

