Startups Anonymous Est. 2013 · Read-only archive
Confessions

My equity breakdown with my cofounder has put me in a situation where I might not be fundable. I’m working on recouping the equity back but I don’t want to be one of those SnapChat assholes, ethics mean something to me.

5 answers from the community

AAnonymous· Feb 27, 2014

Why would your equity split make you not fundable? Let's say for instance that you own 50%, and he owns 50%, and an investor invests $1 million at a $4 million pre-money valuation, then he would own 20% and you and your co-founder would each own 40%. It doesn't matter how much equity either of you have, since the investor will take his or her stake out of the total pool.

AAnonymous· Feb 27, 2014

B/c I'm working full time and they're not AND for them to come on full time they'd need a salary in the high $100s. I should have included that.

AAnonymous· Feb 27, 2014

This is the problem with giving equity away so easily. If you had made a vesting schedule then they would have to come into work full time or else they wouldn't realize those shares.

Is it possible for you to dissolve the company and start over, owning 100%, or leave them to the company and start a competing one? Seems to me like if you start a competing company, yours will outdo theirs since they aren't working on this as hard as you are.

AAnonymous· Feb 27, 2014

There is vesting (4 year, 1 year 25% cliff) but still it's an issue from the ppl I've spoken with.

Great point about the dissolution! That might be something I need to do. Thank's for the POV.

AAnonymous· Feb 28, 2014

No problem. Glad to be of any help.