Ask HN: How Much Percentage of Shares Does a Tech Co-Founder Usually Get?

4 points by leeuwnhawk 7y ago ↗ HN

I'm in talks with getting into a business partnership with someone as a tech co-founder. My main responsibilities would include leading the product development, planning the architecture and managing a tech team. My co-founder's responsibilities would be to lead the vision, bring in clients for our products and putting in the initial investment required to get things running.

In such a business scenario, how much equity should I expect as a tech co-founder? What other factors should I consider before getting into such an arrangement?

4 comments

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zinxq 7y ago ↗

Answer is of course, "Depends" - but 50% is perfectly possible.

http://paultyma.blogspot.com/2016/06/how-to-get-hired-as-tec...

Alex3917 7y ago ↗

All else being equal, slightly less than 50%. But possibly significantly less if the other person has had a previous big exit, you will be getting a salary from day 1, the business already has significant traction, etc.

verdverm 7y ago ↗

Make sure there is a founders agreement and other legal documents in place. Consult a lawyer

Check out the book "the founder's dilemmas" for insights into these and many more issues you will encounter. It's totally worth the $20

jahn716 7y ago ↗

You could also consider a dynamic split arrangement.

Used Slicing Pie (https://slicingpie.com) once and can never start a venture any other way. And the free excel sheet is actually better than the application ;)