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[ASK HN] Splitting equity

2 points by procyon ↗ HN
Hello HN,

We are a small tech startup in very early stage we have a product partially built and had a beta going to validate our idea. Currently we are expanding our team. Also, we are changing the roles of a few key team members. We are really struggling to decide how to split the equity.

Our leading founder is taking a passive role now due to several unfortunate visa issues, and a new addition to the team is bringing high value proposition to the team. However, it is very hard to quantify value each member is bringing to the team and give it a number. How did you decide to split your company? How do you quantify each team member’s contribution even before we launch the product?

Please point me to a good resource where I can learn about how to go about finding answers to these questions.

4 comments

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froo
Interestingly enough, this article just popped up on the delicious popular list so may be relevant to you.

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/fd0n/35%20Founders%27%20Pie%2...

jacobscott
Great reference. Any thoughts on how to make sure everyone feels like they get a fair shake? Maybe consensus on the values in this spreadsheet is sufficient?
froo
That's a good question, I'm currently working through this problem aswell.

Perhaps give each team member their own table where they would fill in what their perceived self-ratings are, but also how they would rate other members and what they would set the weightings at before sitting down to seriously discuss it.

I think this kind of exercise might help people understand where they fit within the new organisation too.