I would like to have a clear vision of what I want the eventual equity split of the company to be, so I can understand how much to part ways with at different points of the company's evolution.
The short answer here is that this is very situational stuff and not necessarily something you can have completely planned out in advance.
If you've already incorporated (c-corp) then you'll have authorized shares and issued shares (see http://startuplawyer.com/incorporation/how-many-shares-should-be-issued-to-founders-at-incorporation)
Any additional grants would then be dilutive.
In most cases, you'll want to create a 10% option pool for future employees. Co-founders that you would bring on will typically want common stock.
Advisors or consultants that are helping out for equity would typically receive option grants that come out of the 10% pool you set up.
Long story short, depending on your situation and needs there are A LOT of ways this could go down. I would recommend reading up more about these issues at http://startuplawyer.com/ (author is a personal friend and his site is packed with great info)
Hope this helps!
Answered 10 years ago
If you are planning to bootstrap and attract co-founders before raising capital, you may want to consider a dynamic equity split such as the "Grunt Fund" outlined by Mike Moyers at SlicingPie.com.
I have no affiliation with the system. I just consider it a fair, transparent, and low-friction way to get started.
Answered 10 years ago
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