Possible Duplicate: Forming a new software startup, how do I allocate ownership fairly?
We have a team made up of four co-founders. Our equity split is:
Co-founder #1 40%
Co-founder #2 5%
Co-founder #3 15%
Co-founder #4 20%
Employee Equity pool 20%
Co-founder #4 is the only technical member of our team, and he could really use some help from a designer. We are boot strapping and pretty much cash poor, so we are looking at creative ways to compensate a designer. We do have a designer that is very interested and wants to be involved. The following are some ideas I have had for compensation, but before I approach him with these offers, I want to make sure they are reasonable and fair. My goal is to build a team, and I want him to be happy. Please advise on the options below.
Are these offers in the realm of feasibility, or am I way off base? Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!
Co-Founder Equity Compensation Partnerships
Before I give you help with your question:
In general its a bad idea to have more than 2 co-founders. It can work out, but if your business becomes really profitable, you will have hell of politics.
Now to the question: If you want to give him equity, consider first if he is a superstar designer or not. If not, it will hurt you in the long run, when you see that he is getting a fair amount of money, but his performance is poor. And if the time comes you can afford better people, you are trapped with him, he will become a bozo. Instead of equity you should consider to give him just profit-share + salary (if possible). Anyway, 10 hrs a week is nearly just one day in a week, which means 4 days in a month. Im not sure, if thats enough.
All in all I would be very reluctant to give people equity too easily. I would always first try other ways like the mentioned profit share (5% of the profit at the end of the year) + salary once there is enough cash-flow. But keep the option to cancel the relationship without too much legal problems. After say a few months or a year, when you could get a sense of his performance and his commitment, you can consider equity. This way you are on the save side.