
Ask HN: Should I give equity to early employees? - a3b2
Hello HN,<p>I&#x27;m working on a women&#x27;s shoe brand and I know the most common way to grow the brand is to reach out to influencers in my niche. However, the top influencers will most likely not work with me unless I pay them, which I can&#x27;t afford to at the moment and the smaller ones may work with me by giving out free product but I don&#x27;t know if it&#x27;s worth giving out free inventory. So I was thinking of offering equity to these top influencers just like tech startups offer to their employees. I was thinking of reserving around 5% and splitting that between the top influencers. This way I won&#x27;t have to pay them and they will have more of an incentive to post. I&#x27;m just curious as to what your thoughts are on this?<p>Thanks
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JamesBarney
I wouldn't, try affiliate links instead. Two reasons I wouldn't use equity are

1\. The blog owners probably want a more immediate and tangible incentive than
equity.

2\. These people will own your company. And that comes with a whole host of
obligations that you as the managing owner have to them. They could make your
life more difficult if they wanted to.

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mtmail
I'd imagine the bloggers tell you they can't pay rent with shares. I assume
the top influencers are bloggers ("will have more of an incentive to post")
and maintain their blog semi-professional or even fulltime. Revenue share
might work.

