

Ask HN: New technical cofounder. How should ownership work? - cweagans

As a followup to my question from a few days ago, I found a startup that I&#x27;d really love to join.<p>The business has a really solid business model, a working prototype built by a contractor, the attention of local angel investors, etc. It&#x27;s a really good fit.<p>The current founder needs a technical cofounder to help him raise his Series A funding, and at this point, it&#x27;s looking like I&#x27;m that guy.<p>We&#x27;ve gotten to the point where we need to discuss how much equity I&#x27;ll have in the company by joining as a cofounder, how it will vest over time, etc. The problem is that I don&#x27;t know how this should work. My previous startup experience has always seen equity evenly split among all of the cofounders, but I don&#x27;t think it&#x27;s appropriate for me to ask that in this case because so much of the work is already done.<p>Has anyone else been in a situation like this? How did you handle it? Any suggestions for me?
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benologist
Almost none of the work is done at this point - what do you think you will be
doing over the next 1 or 5 or 10 years? How much work do you really think you
missed out on making the v1 prototype?

The overwhelming majority of the work is still ahead of the company, your role
is just as big and critical now as if you were there on day 0.

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ecolner
Is there a salary attached to this deal?

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cweagans
Not immediately.

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ecolner
Barring a fair market salary I would argue an even split is appropriate. If
this is a tech company, the other party doesn't need you for a series A, they
need you to run the company... which at this inflection point is fundraising.

Just spitballing here: In exchange I would be generous on the vesting side of
the equation. I'd ask for half the company over 6 years where you get ~75% of
your shares in the first 2 years of the relationship. The company will
probably be dead by that time anyway (based on how these things go). If not,
you've earned your keep.

You'd definitely be wise to consult an attorney about how to execute whatever
deal you agree to do. They'd probably be able to give you better advice.

