funding, founderI’m weeks away from launching my first serious project, I’m a programmer and a designer, so I have created the whole product myself (tough, yes, but possible). I have a couple of friends who are marketers that would be great co-founders.
After reading here about the downsides of creating a company with only one founder, I decided to get more people onboard, but I’m unsure about how should I negotiate with a cofounder in terms of equity in the business, when I basically built everything by myself until now. I’m thinking of splitting 10% for cofounders and advisors (perhaps 2 cofounders at 2% and 6 advisors at 1%).
What do you guys think? Like I said, it’s my first launch so any help would be greatly appreciated.
If you really want people commited with you and with your project as cofounders, you can’t give only 2% to them.
Forget advisor’s equity, do you really need and advisor for your project? Maybe you only need a cofounder with a lot of experience in business and another in marketing/sells.
You can give a 10% to each of them and sign a shareholders agreement where you specify what they have to accomplish to get the equity:
Also think in you future investors, do you think they are going to trust in two people with only 2%?
Another different thing is if you are thinking in pay that people.
If you give them a salary, a 2% as a prize could be pretty well!
Hope those comments can help you. I have run three startups in the last 5 years with different partners, markets, investors and sectors so they are based on my previous experience.
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