

Ask HN: How to split shares in a subsidiary - mulcher777

Hey guys. Throwaway account here. I've approached a small US b2b tech company about starting a Canadian subsidiary. They have agreed, and I will be in charge of all the operations in it. From hiring/leading the tech team (to maintain and modify software from the parent), to managing independent projects, to doing sales.<p>Incorporation and so on is going to happen this week, and so the question is: How should I ask for an equity split? I'm assuming it'll be a two way split between me and the parent company, where I will then redistribute shares to anyone I hire and so on.<p>Any ideas about how to start thinking about this? Thanks.
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jacquesm
It sounds to me like you don't have the cat quite in the bag just yet, you
need to do some more negotiation.

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mulcher777
This is what I'm asking advice for. During negotiations, we'll need to come up
with a figure. What should I be asking for? Is there any thought framework for
arriving at a figure?

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jacquesm
Well, that all depends on who will be contributing what. What you should be
asking for is roughly 1.5 times what you want to get out of the deal or you'll
walk away. That will give you some room to negotiate _and_ you might get
lucky.

Without knowing a whole lot more about the situation it's pretty much an
unanswerable question.

