Ask HN: How do you split ownership with a co-founder?

[anotherwebdev]

Hello HN, a friend and I are starting a startup and we don't know how to split ownership. What role do coming up with the idea, technical skills and marketing skills play?

If one of us does just the marketing, how much ownership should he get?

[mtmail]

Default is 50:50 because you will be working together for years in good and bad times. I'd see it only changing when one person already put it money (more than the other can afford), there's an existing working MVP by one person or extensive market research (almost validating the business idea) by one person that can't be easily replicated. With a tech product it's possible the tech person feels he's putting in more hours. But the business won't work long-term if the second person isn't there and ready to do all the small (and big) distracting stuff, e.g. opening bank accounts, filing taxes, travel, writing documentation.

One advice I have is to start with a simple document even before incorporating. It should list which ownership you agreed on and that everything you build and create (e.g. a logo) is owned equally by both (not the person who e.g. paid the logo designer). Ideally it also has a clause what happens when one person wants to quit (or simply stops working) because with 50:50 you have a stalemate where one person wouldn't be allowed to just take everything created and continue.