Equity Questions

Equity is ownership that both the business owner and investors have in a company.

21 Votes
5 Answers
4.53K Views
Teammates have pushed me out of our venture. What to do now?

I along with 3 other people created a concept for an innovative Ecommerce platform as part of a 5 week startup pre-incubator. We had a great run and on demo day we won the audience and panel of...

asked Aug 20 '11 at 04:10
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Adjoa Opoku
106 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
2.56K Views
What a 1.2% job offer really mean in a 4 people startup that got their first VC round?

I was offered a job at a very small startup. They have just started a year ago. 4 founders started the company together. I'm going to be their first hire. They offered a "pay the rent" salary and...

asked Mar 5 '14 at 05:51
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Mo
6 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
2.39K Views
Which should I pick: 5% equity or $100,000 performance bonus in an early stage startup less than two years old?

I have the option to take either 5% equity (vested over 4 years) or a $100K cash bonus (paid over 2 years) in a startup that I joined a year ago. The company is less than two years old and we have...

asked Feb 28 '14 at 15:58
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Henrietta Fernandez
35 points

2 Votes
2 Answers
2.99K Views
Need advice on assigning equity structure for 1 year old startup

I need advice and experienced views on establishing a proper original founder equity picture in a project. Here are the details: Founder A - Coder / Co-Product Designer / Co-Original Idea...

asked Feb 25 '14 at 18:49
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Dan Newman
21 points

1 Votes
2 Answers
12.2K Views
Does owning x% equity in a company mean you will get x% of the profits yearly?

If I join a startup that is offering me 10% equity and they become profitable, does that mean I will get 10% of the profits they make each year? At what point in a startup's life does it start...

asked Feb 21 '14 at 15:57
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Duane Clark
50 points

3 Votes
1 Answers
2.88K Views
Best way to deal with co-founder who has second thoughts about equity split a year into the startup?

A year into a startup, your product is built and you have some traction. You see signs of growing discontent in your co-founder so you confront him to see what's up. And then he drops an issue I...

asked Feb 21 '14 at 05:02
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Jared B.
16 points

0 Votes
1 Answers
2.16K Views
What liquidity options does a founder have early on?

Is there any hope for a founder to sell shares between series seed and series A? After two years of getting a business off the ground with co-founders, I could use cash for family reasons. I have...

asked Feb 21 '14 at 06:28
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User30169
1 point

2 Votes
3 Answers
2.72K Views
Is there such a thing as an initial equity picture evaluation service?

I am wondering if there is such a thing as a neutral, 3rd party service that provides an outside assessment to help a founding team that is ready to incorporate come to a decision on equity...

asked Feb 20 '14 at 21:32
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Dan Newman
21 points

2 Votes
1 Answers
2.54K Views
How much equity to give to the idea guy?

Here's the situation at hand. I'm a designer, entrepreneur. I work with a lot of talented developers etc. One of my non-technical buddies had an idea for an iOS app. He explained it to be through...

asked Mar 12 '13 at 11:37
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Tyler
16 points

3 Votes
1 Answers
3.68K Views
How much equity is fair for a non-technical co-founder joining pre-revenue with a product ready to launch

What is a reasonable equity split where two people have been working separately on a similar tech idea and are now looking to join forces. These individuals are friends. Despite both working...

asked Jul 27 '13 at 06:41
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Hopeful
16 points

0 Votes
2 Answers
3.35K Views
Taking on a new team member and paying only in equity - legal aspects and pitfalls

Here's my situation. I founded a company very recently (currently an LLC) and have no external funding. I also don't have deep pockets. This is for a startup in the US in Washington state. I...

asked Dec 5 '13 at 18:53
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Newbie
6 points

3 Votes
1 Answers
1.76K Views
Convertible debt notes that convert at an unrealistic valuation

My company received a $15K investment from a friend of the family (we'll call him Doug) two years ago. I issued him a convertible note (no cap) that would convert to equity in either 2 years or if...

asked Nov 11 '13 at 18:54
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Alan
16 points

0 Votes
3 Answers
2.57K Views
When a company is acquired how are employees compensated?

Let's say you join a small (< 50) hot startup. A month or two after you start, they end up getting acquired for $1 billion. As an employee that just started would you receive any of that money?...

asked Nov 15 '13 at 06:13
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Wwwuser
125 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
1.99K Views
Cofounder on a salary

I'm looking for a startup opportunity in London. I was given an offer to be a startup cofounder. B2B app for finance market. The team will be me an a business guy. He is giving all the money for...

asked Nov 16 '13 at 03:00
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Lukas
110 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
3.67K Views
How do you decide what salary to pay employees or partners when you first profit?

Suppose there is a situation like this: There are 3 people in a startup, the CEO, a partner, and an investor (very small angel). The investor does no work but has 7.5% equity and 7.5% net profit...

asked Nov 24 '13 at 09:06
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Goose
16 points

0 Votes
2 Answers
2.79K Views
Partnering with a consulting company

I have an opportunity to build a software with a subscription model with my partner who is the domain expert. We found a consulting company who is willing to due the whole development and...

asked Oct 22 '13 at 16:14
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Adam
1 point

5 Votes
3 Answers
4.44K Views
Early investor wants to cash out

Our company had an early partner that came in on the 'ground floor' and promised to one of the first hired employees. He invested money into the company for an partner's equity share (25%). A few...

asked Oct 26 '13 at 04:58
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The Brock Ellis
28 points

2 Votes
1 Answers
2.56K Views
Tech startup equity split question

First about my background: I have been programming and consulting for 15 years, with expertise in C#, Asp.net, t-sql, Pl/sql, JavaScript, and to a lesser degree Java, Python, NodeJs etc... I would...

asked Oct 31 '13 at 22:25
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Beer Drinker
13 points

0 Votes
1 Answers
2.01K Views
Do Angels And VC Look Favourably On Prospective Investees Where Protected Equity Holdings Exist

as a means to enable investment of non fiscal resources across a wide range of disciplines into early stage enterprises we have devised a protected equity model that sees 'sweat equity investors'...

asked Nov 1 '13 at 00:33
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Emile Emiabata
1 point

1 Votes
2 Answers
2.52K Views
Equity in a project but not in company

Can I give someone stake/equity/shares or similar for a project in the company without giving that person any equity in the company? If not, has anyone found ways to accomplish something...

asked Nov 2 '13 at 08:32
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Javier Figueroa
106 points