| I've been the sole developer of several startups over the years and still am for some. Some suggestions: - If there's no unequal investment in the startup (like for example someone putting in a lot of money or more time compared to others) ownership should be split equally amongst the founders. Working remotely is a nonsense argument for getting less equity, not giving everyone the same will most likely end up in conflicts later on. - Make sure you have your equity on paper and come up with a vesting scheme so no co-founder can walk out with 33% after a couple of months while the others have to carry on for years. (for example unlock 4% every month of work so that you only earned the complete amount after putting in at least 2 years) - Becoming profitable and/or receiving investments can take a while, does every team member have the runway to work on this long enough to not need any income from it? - You can't just leave like with a regular job since the future of the startup depends on what you do, keep this in mind. If you are not 100% sure you want to spend the next couple of years on this tell the co-founders beforehand that you will build the MVP and decide once that's done if you want to continue or not. A vesting scheme will make sure you at least get something out of it. - If you complete the MVP and don't want to continue you can consider selling the MVP to your co-founders at a predefined rate in exchange for your shares. If you do this for a good price and terms and they have the funds for it this might be best for all parties since you are no longer connected to each others as shareholders, they don't have to involve you in new decisions and you don't have to free up time in the future for a company you are no longer involved in otherwise. - You might want to wait with formalizing the shareholder deeds until a investment comes into play (this all depends on where to company is located and what the laws are of course). Do get stuff signed on paper beforehand though! - Don't undervalue yourself, in the end YOU are building it, idea's alone are worth nothing. - Startups are rough, prepare for a lot of fights, failure and lost free time and decide for yourself if you think this startup is worth spending a couple of years of your life on. Keep in mind that most startups fail, my personal experience is that this usually has to do with the dedication of the team doing it. Good luck! |