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Ask HN: Am I too late to get a cofounder?

12 points by cofoundless ↗ HN
I've been a developer for a over a decade. From many side projects I have product lines that are starting to earn revenue, but I am a solo developer.

Now I'm concentrating on these projects fulltime and they are taking off (getting popular, gaining press, etc.).

Within my personal network there are some people that I could use (and who have offered to help). I want to bring people in, but given that I've written hundreds of thousands of lines of code, and nobody else has done anything yet, there is an obvious inequity there. So I have no idea what sort of arrangements are good ones.

But I do want to bring other people in (I have two in mind, and am open to other developers as well). And I want to be fair/generous to them without being "bent over" myself.

Anybody have experience with this sort of stuff?

(posted anonymously)

9 comments

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pg
If you've done a lot of work already, someone you brought on now would, if they were reasonable, not expect to get the same amount of equity as you.

Beware, though, because empirically founders tend to overestimate the percentage of the value of the company represented by the work they've already done. Founders tend to overestimate past work and underestimate future work, and they also underestimate the distance between a good product and a successful company.

cofoundless
Good, both-sides-of-the-coin answer. I do see the value both potential partners bring to the table, because they fill in gaps of mine (business and design), while they have some development knowledge themselves.

But the fact is that the existing product(s) is the reason for them wanting to join in the first place.

nikeywilson
I was in a similar situation, but I received some angel funding as a solo entrepreneur. This let me hire rather then bring in equity partners.

I'd talk with a startup lawyer to research some equity arrangements, and definitely incorporate in a "good" state like Delaware where you have some flexibility wrt corporate structuring.

HelgeSeetzen
The early equity distribution is really a measure of future contribution. Vesting (or decreasing reverse vesting) is about the only concept that should the past into account at this stage.

Just watch for tax considerations when you award equity to new people (if you have already created non-zero fair market value for your equity).

worldtize
Email me, I have what you need.

gstacks00@aol.com

gs8
First you should ask yourself why you need a cofounder? What will they do?

If what they will do is perform a job than you don't need a cofounder but an employee.

If you already have a stable service I don't see the point of brining in a cofounder because they wont have your vision.

One thing that could be beneficial is if you have a competitor who is at the same level as you, you could merge with them and become cofounders which would help you increase your presence, provide reasonable equity, and offer similar visions.

If you just need a cofounder to reduce your workload you could always hire programmers to do the development work and manage your business yourself.

petervandijck
Are they asking for equity? Why not just hire them? You can always offer them to become partners later on.
eengstrom
I think the general consensus is that getting significant funding requires a broader team. You have an advantage in that you're fairly far along on the development aspects. You have plenty of equity valued at whatever amount it is. Depending on your project and your terms, you really should consider having a co-founder or even two with supportive skill sets and backgrounds, good networks and contacts.

This will greatly increase your survivability in the near and long term. Unless you're a purely technical "develop and release then 'look ma' no hands'" product.