Build your company’s tech team, bringing on and managing new employees. The Pie Slicer. Early Stage Advice: Founders often make mistakes when figuring out equity for each co-founder. by. This information is critical in understanding the company’s valuation and potential return on investment. Investors own 50%, and get $18 million, split between two firms. 25% equity stake. They decide how much equity they should own based on their roles and contributions to the company. For us, anything that has the word ‘simple’ is already winning! At Cake, it’s all about simple and fast. YOU PICK ME UP, AND I'LL DO THE SAME. At the beginning of a startup journey, founders own the full number of the startup's issued shares, with each. The discount in a SAFE is used as a mechanism to address the higher risk of investment that SAFE investors take when investing in an early-stage startup. Advisors are an amazing part of the startup ecosystem. We agree to reduce our stakes to 40% each and contribute a total of 20% (10% from each of us) into the Founder Stock Pool. The law mandating 409A valuations was. The calculator suggests an equity split determined by the anticipated effort-based. com. Self-Funding. Option pool: 20 percent, which can be divided up among. The final results are helpful, but it’s the act of going through the process and asking yourself (and each other) the hard questions that truly pays off. Startup value: Total startup score * Average valuation of similar startups. Comparable Pricing Method. Equity is usually divided among founders, investors, employees and advisors. In the pre-seed and seed funding rounds, startups raise anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000 for a 5% to 10% equity stake. It allows founders to structure the equity plan to meet their needs and provides incentives to employees that are appropriate for their contribution level. Look, starting a new venture is hard, but having to figure out what is fair for each cofounder shouldn't be. As you might expect, lower funding means lower wages. Please use the calculator at your own discretion and direct any questions or. Our free startup equity calculator can help you understand the potential financial outcome of your offer. More countries coming soon! EQUITY DILUTION CALCULATOR. You grab your two best friends, get all excited, and then start a company together. Examples are in there for demonstration purposes, create your own elements from scratch. Download the Grunt Fund Calculator – Expanded to accommodate up to 20 Grunts! The video below provide a quick explanation on using the calculator. Funding and exit simulations. With the FAST agreement, founders and advisors can agree on how to work together, what to accomplish, and the right amount of equity compensation in a short and simple 5-pager. Look at your historical growth curve to calculate monthly, or better yet, your weekly revenue growth rate. Equity basics: Understanding startup stock As the name implies, a share of stock entitles the holder to a portion of the company. Limit the stock option pool. Investment Size = $5 million % Investor Equity Ownership = 20%; 2. Research by SaaStr backs up this suggestion. In this guide we go through important questions about startup equity for founders, employees and investors, including cap table management, splitting equity with your co-founders, common and preferred share classes, vesting schedules and employee equity compensation. Share dilution can change both your financial stake in the company and how. The ideal co-founder will agree on most things (80%), but will disagree a bit and bring you a different perspective (20% of the time). Look, starting a new venture is hard, but having to figure out what is fair for each cofounder shouldn't be. At the end of our 3-Year term (or whatever term we decide) the co-founders divide the company's ownership amongst the founders based on actual contributions. g. As startups grow, founders may give out stock options to employees, advisors, and board directors to compensate for their work. Gust’s online tools support corporate legal and financial formation and operation for entrepreneurs, as well as deal flow and relationship management for investors, from startup through exit. The initial allocation of this equity will be broken down into three groups: Founders will be allocated 8,000,000. The technical founder gets another 5 shares for idea validation and 25 for IP development. A common caveat is that the founder receives no equity if they split before the one-year mark. 100% digital, all your shareholders will have the same version. g. Equity Calculator for Equity in Start-up Companies. Angel Investors: 20 to 30 percent. 3 percent. WilmerHale is providing direct access to a Co-Founder Equity Calculator, an online tool built and operated by a third party. Ashton Kutcher and investment partner, Guy Oseary, invested $500,000 in Airbnb’s Series C round for an estimated . As a result, the equity share would be the contribution value divided by the company value, or 0. Optimize Equity withTLDR Stock Options Tool". The summary taxes cost is 10,35%, which depends on the employee salary: Social Security - 6,2% of salary. Issuing equity to founders and employees in an LLC can be very complex to navigate for a startup. You can ask questions and iterate on the report with your analyst. Number of Rounds. A Section 83(b) election can allow a startup company founder who receives restricted stock to save a substantial amount of taxes because tax is based on the fair market value of the property when it is granted, rather than its fair market value on the date that it vests. Regardless of your capital at launch, 10 million authorized shares is generally the sweet spot for a new startup company and the number of shares that most corporate law firms would recommend to. The list below shows founder or CEO ownership of 178 tech companies at IPO. Most founders can expect to give away at least 10 percent of their startup during the initial seed round. Issue equity, raise funds, stay compliant 3. Bringing decades of experience from startup, scale up, legal, entrepreneurship and fortune 500, we're on a mission to empower founders and their teams, by making global equity simple and fast, so they can go build a better future for all of us. This free tool (based on Gust data) will help you ask the right questions to determine how much value each founder will contribute, and give you a sensible, objective recommendation for a. In 2023, the average startup founder’s salary will be around $148,000 per year. , are used in calculating a company's valuation. Once you have all the necessary numbers, it’s much easier to compare multiple offers (or compare your new job offer to your current equity package). Research by SaaStr backs up this suggestion. Create an employee stock option pool, or ESOP. The amount of technical co-founder startup equity you should give members of your team depends on a few key factors. Investor Group. In exchange for their abilities and services, you would like to give them shares…What is common equity for startup? What is equity in a startup? Essentially, startup equity describes ownership of a company, typically expressed as a percentage of shares of stock. The number of shares available in the business is at the discretion of the founder or co-founders of the. 5 million shares. As an employer, any startup founder should pay the following taxes. You input all the shareholders here. Financial Technology firm for $100K salary and 1. Many founders’ first inclination is to split equity evenly, or close to it—often times this comes out to simple splits like 50/50, 33/33/34, or 51/49. One drawback of an equal founder equity split is that it can impact decision-making and lead to stalemates if the partners don’t agree on something. Consisting of 10% – 20% ownership of your company, this pool is typically drawn from founders’ shares. Note: the $5M max with audited financials for Reg CF did not get. It’s almost never worth it to go to a startup vs faang unless the amount of equity is large, like single digit percentages. A good cap table template seemed like a necessary addition. Here, the emphasis is on distributing shares fairly via several differently weighted metrics based on their importance in forming the startup. Although we find this tool to be of value to our clients, we do not sponsor its use or work directly with its developers. No early stage startup will be able to accurately. Although we find this tool to be of value to our clients, we do not sponsor its use or work directly with its developers. 5% during the Series A round, according to Carta data from Q1 2023. This drives the drop down menus. Learn to use a simple framework and my robust calculator to help you and your cofounders to find a fair equity split. Often, startup founders, employees, and investors will own equity in a startup. In the Silicon Valley Startup Attorney article, “Founders & Startup 101: I) Forms of Equity”, Chris Barsness outlines the most important terms that founders need to know in the world of startup equity and vesting. FURTHER READING. 6577. Completed diploma programme or Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctor’s degree programme or vocational education/training in Austria. Use our free startup valuation calculator to find out what your SaaS business is worth and what its valuation could be with equity-free growth capital. German: intensified elementary use of the language (A2 level)The founders will hold an 80% stake and the investors 20% prior to the creation of the employee option pool. This is the first time that we’ve seen the average and median not move together, reflecting a change in the distribution. 8. This is mainly true for two-partner, 50-50 equity splits. Startup Equity Calculator: Figure out how much equity to grant new hires in seconds. Decide how much of their total compensation you would like to pay in cash (AKA their salary). The startup has 5,000,000 shares available, with a share price of $2. Looking at the same scenarios as above, the founder of a C corporation that makes $75,000 in profits could pay themself a $42,250 salary. risk as probability of failure is the same across all employees, but the EV opportunity costs for techies is much higher, because the average income at x years experience is drastically higher for techies vs biz. At each round, a new investor will ask for 10-25% of equity (dilution), and a top-up of employee share options (ESOPs) Round size increases by ~5x between each financing round. Here’s what the co-founder equity split tool looks like in action: This calculator tool shows how much an early-stage founder's equity is diluted when taking on a new capital round. Already a Tech Co-Founder. The ideal co-founder will agree on most things (80%), but will disagree a bit and bring you a different perspective (20% of the time). Founders need to remember when it comes to valuation, everything is open to negotiation. All the calculations that happen in the background are in this sheet. After all, every dollar counts. The Founder/Advisor Standard Agreement, or “FAST”, was developed by the Founder Institute to make the advisory agreement process more efficient for startup founders. Then add up the numbers for each founder, sum those totals, and calculate the percentages. Use these resources to figure it out. Experiencing the Thai startup ecosystem for almost a decade, HUBBA professionals have put considerable effort into relieving the founder’s pain in building a business. Share. If you have more than one founder, you can choose how you want to share ownership: 50/50, 60/40, 40/40/20 ,etc. Look Forward Dilution: Comparing. Startup equity compensation. Startup equity can be given to founders, employees, and investors as both a reward and an incentive for contributing to the growth and success of the. What percentage of the company’s equity am I getting? The raw number of options the company is offering you doesn’t mean much since companies have different. 000 minimum with an equity share of at least 50 %. For example, under a 4 year vest with a 1 year cliff – if the co-founder leaves or you fire them within the first. e. Essentially, startup equity describes ownership of a company, typically expressed as a percentage of shares of stock. The first investors in your startup are likely to be friends and family or angel investors. A runway is established as soon as investors enter the cap table. 7% of salary. Investors want founders to have a vesting schedule so that they are incentivized to work on the business in the long-term. An extension of point #1. However, the median startup CEO pay increased from $140,000 to $145,000. Follow these steps to calculate a baseline valuation figure: Calculate your revenue run rate (RRR), which is the most recent month’s sales times 12. Option pool: 20 percent, which can be divided up among. 2% of the. You will make mistakes and when you do, you'll need. To be sure, if you raise a priced round at a high valuation, the long-term difference in dilution between raising $250,000 through notes and, say, $750,000 won’t be much. Calculator Founder Equity (Excel)Initially, the owner is generally shared in percentages between the startup's co- founders in most typical cases. 2. you have a choice to make: $10,000 additional salary or ~30% more equity. The calculator allows founders to input different variables, such as the amount of money. Here are the five steps to offering startup employee equity: 1. The type of equity that we’ll be sticking to throughout this article is stock that represents an ownership interest. Industry leading data to motivate your team. 5. The value of shares issued by a startup (or other company). The 3-person executive team, including a CEO if one was hired, owns 10%, and splits $3. Be very suspicious of yes-men: they find everything you say great, and think all your ideas are awesome…. This works best for a small team with equal capital investments, responsibilities, skills sets and time commitments. As you grow, equity is distributed among those who contributed to fund your startup, give you advise, or develop your product/service offerings. A general rule of thumb is to set aside around 10%-15% of your equity for your. Many startups set aside between 10-20% of their shares in order to have the means to incentivize employees. They're the people who contribute their time and expertise to startups — time and expertise that's absolutely invaluable to a company's growth as founders often wear a million different hats and learn on the go. What is the average dilution of a startup after funding rounds? The average dilution of a startup after funding rounds can range from 20% to 60%, depending on the number and size of rounds. 2. Making 83 (b) is a better option in this case. 2. If you have more than one founder, you can choose how you want to share ownership: 50/50, 60/40, 40/40/20 ,etc. Multiply each of the founder’s values by the factor’s value to calculate the scores. Sideqik CEO & Founder. The Pie Slicer. Get audit-ready without the worries and stay on top of equity across teams, functions and territories. Startup Equity Calculator & Benchmarking | Cake Equity TOOLS Equity benchmark calculator Use Cake's Equity Benchmarking tool to answer the question. Divide equity among company founders. Generally, the lead founder (or founding CEO) receives the largest equity percentage — typically 30%-50% as seen in Figure 2. Enter your business's name and industry. Entrepreneurs know how important stock options are for hiring and retaining the best talent. Investing in C Corporations has major tax advantages for startup investors. This is great for coming up with a starting point. 0. Startup equity toolkit. 1. The average equity stake, and thus the valuation – assuming same investment amount- , varies based on the stage of the startup. " * * *. The percentage depends on the startup’s valuation and other metrics. The Ultimate Guide to Cap Tables for Startup Founders. Essentially, startup equity describes ownership of a company, typically expressed as a percentage of shares of stock. The number of shares or options you own divided by the total shares outstanding is the percent of the company you own. It is a crucial factor that determines the value, incentives, and control of the company. Entrepreneurs know how important stock options are for hiring and retaining the best talent. 01% of the company’s acquisition price if there’s a successful exit, 0. Startup. On day one, founders own 100%. The pitfall of giving more than 20% may not be. This calculator tool shows how much an early-stage founder's equity is diluted when taking on a new capital round. If not, you need a system that will split equity fairly according to what each founder contributes. How much equity to give a tech cofounder (according to Founders Pie Calculator) Aspect. Your salary is less than what you’d get at a big company. Founders: 20 to 30 percent divided among co-founders. On average, founders offer 10-20% of their equity during a seed round. This cap table calculator for startup founders helps them understand how much equity they will own in their company under different circumstances. 1. Startup CEO Salary Calculator US Based Companies that have raised under $100M. At the time, Airbnb had a $200 million valuation. VoyageLA Founder and CEO, Mayank Bhandari, advises that the decision on whether to accept equity should be part and parcel of your decision to work at a startup. Not sure if 0. SeedCamp’s hackathon, Seedhack, took place at Google Campus, London, on the 8th to 10th of November. The general requirement from the IRS is to follow the 60/40 rule, which states at least 60% of your compensation should be in the form of salary and up to 40% can be paid as dividends. The division of equity in a startup will depend on various factors. We compiled the largest ever set of benchmark data, comprising over 20,000 option grants from more than 1,650 startups across the US. Startups should use an independent, outside valuation firm to get a 409A valuation before offering stock options to employees to avoid fines and legal issues with the IRS. Below is. 2. Preferred stock is. Source: The Founder Institute. Home Work. Type any values/percentages into the inputs, and the outputs will update. g. Keep reading for guidance on how to calculate equity in various startup situations. The range is wide. It’s calculated by adding up all of your assets such as cash, investments, savings accounts, savings bonds, retirement accounts, real estate, and other assets minus any liabilities (such as total credit card debt, student loan debt,. If there are multiple founders this percentage will be split among them according to the contribution they make (e. Fair Equity Allocation. The formula for the cost of capital is composed of separate calculations for debt and equity. Get started for. Agile funding: Break out of the funding round cycle. As you might expect, technical co-founder equity should be reasonably high since they share the responsibility of running the. The calculator allows for up to five investors and two co-founders. Amicable departure vs. 5 million shares. They also have little time to focus on learning the financial and. Create a business plan for your startup. Equity Calculator. I'm in the process of negotiating the equity split for a new startup with one other co-founder and I would love to hear what you guys think would…That will typically leave the founder/founder team with 10-20% of the business when it's all said and done. Incorrect valuation can result in dissatisfaction and misalignment of expectations among team. Some benchmark tools are: 1. Let’s assume that a company has a total of 10 million shares issued, and a founder holds 4 million shares while another holds 2. Already a Tech Co-Founder. In 2020, the median pre-money valuation seed round was $6 million. As an ambitious startup founder, there's little doubt that you're hungry to scale your venture and showcase your product, service or solution to the world post-haste. Average Startup CEO Salary in 2023. However, Founders also enjoy the benefit of getting paid their own equity relative to their co-Founders, not relative to their actual investment. 2. Our startup equity calculator is designed to help quantify each of a startup’s co-founders’ contributions in order to more accurately split equity in the company so you can prevent disputes between team members and focus on what matters. Therefore you should continue to. Equal ownership equity splits are determined by dividing 100% of the equity shares by the number of co-founders involved in the start-up. Churn Rate: The rate at which a startup loses customers during the acquisition process. 2%, Founder 3 16. LLCs can be complicated to diligence as part of venture financing, increasing costs and time to close fundraising deals. Description. One major complicating factor with granting equity in an LLC is that W-2 employees of an LLC cannot hold equity in. Studies show VCs prefer uneven splits, but startups still often split 50/50. In that case, the investor ends up losing their money. The average founder/CEO holds roughly 14 percent equity at the company's IPO, while an outside CEO holds an average of 6 to 8 percent. You should always avoid offering over 25% during this stage. 409A valuations get their name from the section number 409 of the Internal Revenue Code, which went into effect on January 1, 2005. Investor's equity (%) Pre-Money Valuation (₹). 2. Sweat equity is a non-monetary contribution that the individuals or founders of a company make towards the company. Whilst the factors in this equation are unique to. Additionally, the backyards of each signed deal matter a lot. On average, founders offer 10-20% of their equity during a seed round. This time, the 20% option pool is carved out from the post-money valuation, meaning everybody gets diluted by 20%. The one big inevitable topic is ‘equity’, and YES, it can be uncomfortable among founders to talk frankly about it, especially in Thai culture. This makes it easy to divide up the equity fairly among the founders. We multiply 10 by the weight of 7 to get 70 points. 05%. Then, multiply the resulting number by 100, and you will have your profit margin. Decide what their total compensation should be. Allocate the different items, tasks, areas in Column A. Companies use equity compensation to incentivize employees to stay at the company and close the compensation gap between startup salaries and larger companies. Pitcherific: Pitcherific helps you create, train. Since the SAFE price is higher than the S-A price, the SAFE automatically takes the lower price of the 2. Combine experience level with team and company data for the most accurate offers. A number of factors, like startup resources, equities, the fund raised, sales made, etc. This calculator shows how to determine a founder's equity dilution after a single round of fundraising/capital increase. Startup Equity Calculator. As a startup founder, keeping your company compliant is essential to protecting the value of your startup equity and reaping the rewards of your hard work. That figure is £5. Following the transactional approach, the team agrees that co-founder A should receive 25%, plus ¾ of the remaining. You will make mistakes and when you do, you'll need. 99% of you will need), you'll learn how to avoid this unfortunate, yet totally avoidable, situation. "How much. You input all the terms for your convertible note investors in this ledger. How much do startup founders make after exit? The median and average paydays were $268mm and $708mm respectively. Attorney Mary Russell counsels individuals on startup equity, including: Compensation Counsel on Job Offers. What is Net Worth? Net worth is a key concept in personal finance and is often used to measure an individual’s financial health. The type of equity that we’ll be sticking to throughout this article is stock that represents an ownership interest. The first VC round makes up Series A. restrictions. By taking this course and utilizing my easy-to-use Startup Equity Calculator (UPDATED to handle up to 7 cofounder slots--more than what 99. Generally, equity calculators will ask you to input your start date, the initial amount you were given in stock and the company’s number of outstanding shares. Try Now! If you need to check each founder’s equity shares based on your input, you can use our startup equity calculator. Total taxes paid. Fill in the co-founder names at the top. In contrast to regular equity, which involves putting money towards the project, sweat equity is non-monetary and generally consists of providing time, work and intellectual property. , from 100% down to 60%) As a general convention, VC cap tables group similar parties together. 50/50 or 20/20/60). Founders might end up on the line for a lot of money. Tax benefits. 11. Once you’re happy you can submit the 409A report to your. However, startup employees expect to receive other forms of compensation—usually equity in the company—with the hope that these will make up for the lost wages in the long run. Startup financial advisor David Ehrenberg suggests that 5 to 10 percent is a fair equity stake for CEOs who join the company later. 3. Mark Zuckerberg owned 21% of Facebook, Sergey Brin and Larry Page owned 31% of Google, and Reed Hastings owned 24% of Netflix. Giving more than that to an investor is too much, which is risky for your business. Incorporate in Delaware, 2. However, for founders, there's a trade-off to consider. Who gets equity in a startup. You can change any of the values below, and this will auto-update all other inputs. As with all strategic business decisions, there are several factors to consider when awarding equity to employees. Step 3—Dividing equity among Investors. Here's a closer look at how to use the startup equity value calculator: 1. Equity Capital. How to value your startup – method #2: Decide how much of the company to sell. Eqvista’s startup valuation calculator is a tool that helps you calculate the valuation of a startup within a matter of minutes. In the Cake platform, the Offer Letter comes built-in with your equity plan. Angel Investors: 20 to 30 percent. The basic formula is simple: if you need to raise $3 million, and investors believes the company is worth $10 million, you will have to give them 30% of. Startup Equity. 2. 0001. ). At the conversion, the convertible vehicles will convert into equity at a valuation no higher than the valuation cap. Start ExploringWelcome to Phase Three of a four-part Splitting Equity Series. In contrast, when an investor invests for equity, there usually isn’t a payback clause if the startup fails. Gust. All your staff go in the ESOP ledger. To build on the example, let’s say. The standard, she knew, was a roughly 1. A cliff period means that during that period, no shares are owned by the person. Input the last preferred price, post-money valuation, and/or total number of outstanding shares from the companies you want to compare. Equity threshold. Startup Equity Calculator. The Capital Calculator enables you to compare the amount of dilution that would be experienced by common shareholders from the issuance of preferred stock under different financing terms. 3. Curated by Jason Atkins, Cake's Co-founder & President, from years of engaging and working with the world's best startup teams and experts. In the Silicon Valley Startup Attorney article, “Founders & Startup 101: I) Forms of Equity”, Chris Barsness outlines the most important terms that founders need to know in the world of startup equity and vesting. Download our startup equity calculator. In funding rounds where the current partners do not sell any shares, new shares are issued, diluting the existing shareholders. Weight. Initially, founders own 100% their startup’s equity, though they eventually give away the majority of their equity over time to co-founders, investors, and employees. Option #3. 5% to 2% stake for a key employee at the executive level. Co-founder Equity Split. A well-calculated valuation ensures that equity distribution is fair and aligns with the individual contributions of each stakeholder. Total Shares: 5,000,000; Share Price. )Non-founding chief technology officers have a smaller equity stake in the startup, and would be more likely to negotiate for a salary closer to market levels. Liquidation preference is a critical aspect of startup financing that impacts both shareholders and founders. 75BN in funding, and building products. Download the free calculator. Founders: 20 to 30 percent divided among co-founders. Learn more about how advisors help startups. Use this simple Pre-Money and Post-Money startup Valuation Calculator by 100X. As investors seek to safeguard their investments and maximize returns, startups must navigate these preferences to secure funding while ensuring long-term growth. 07M max to $1. Inputs that go into this model. July 12th, 2022. That is why FI developed a groundbreaking 'Equity Collective' where your program Leaders, Mentors, and FI HQ are vested in the success of your. 1 | Introduction of a co-founder at early stages. The cost of capital calculator equates the cost of funds a startup raises to finance its growth. The Startup Calculator can help co-founders understand the ultimate financial outcome for. 99% of you will need), you'll learn how to avoid this unfortunate, yet totally. SAFE is an acronym for Simple Agreement for Future Equity. 2. FounderEquity •Founder Equity: Not a legal term but used in common parlance to refer to the shareholding (ownership) given to someone who participates in the initial creation and early stages of a startup. It’s better to have more shares than you need, for the sake of future issuances or to maintain founder control. “Equity ownership is not only important for aligning incentives between founders and investors, but crucially it drives alignment across the entire organisation. Learn to use a simple framework and my robust calculator to help you and your cofounders to find a fair equity split. We exist to help founders, so we run nearly 1000 free startup events per year where you can meet local entrepreneurs, network with investors, learn from advisors, and connect with co-founders. Equity calculator. The company receives a new investment of $1,000,000. The average equity share for a startup founder varies widely but is often in the range of 20-30% after multiple funding rounds. Appoint your board of directors. The difference of 100,000 is the number of shares that need to be issued. Co-Founder Equity Split Template. You grab your two best friends, get all excited, and then start a company together. A tool like this equity calculator can be a helpful way to take a more nuanced approach. 6 million. Down Round Protection. Snapchat co-founders Evan Spiegel and Robert Murphy owned a combined 37% of Snapchat before it went public. calculator. After a year, a founder is entitled to 25% of their equity. To calculate the founder’s diluted ownership percentage, input the values into the calculator: Because of the liquidation preference, the investors get $14 million right off the top. The founder equity split should be a considered, not hasty, decision. Equity calculator. 067% is too little or too much? Jump to the last section to learn more. Welcome to the Co-Founder Equity Calculator! It is based on almost 3 years of one-on-one discussions with entrepreneurs through the co-founders meetup and 10 editions of the silicon valley startup conference. The reality is that there must be a single leader who has more equity and thus has the decision-making power. Current ownership. State Unemployment Tax - 2. Preferred stock and common stock (alternatively preferred and common shares) are two classes of equity typically issued by startups as a security representing ownership in a company. 2022, the average annual pay for a CTO Startup in California is. Co-Founder Equity Calculator which takes into considerations roles, contributions and risks: Foundr: Co-Founder Equity Calculator. A SAFE can be converted into preferred. Equity Calculator; Equity Tables; Splitting Equity Between Founders; Further Reading; These startup resources are based on the book Hello, Startup: A Programmer's Guide to Building Products, Technologies, and Teams by. This can be taken from similar job postings and the market as a whole. We compiled the largest ever set of benchmark data, comprising over 20,000 option grants from more than 1,650 startups across the US. Fill in the co-founder names at the top. These days VCs teach the founders to be incredibly stingy to employees especially when it comes to equity. Hopefully it’s intuitive enough for you to use.