[latchkey]

Sage advice. Most startups fail, so squabbling over the numbers has always seemed absurd to me. I'd rather see discussion along the lines of "what happens after we do well" because you have no idea of what "well" will be down the line.

[seattle_spring]

Ensuring you don't get screwed in equity agreements isn't "squabbling over numbers." What exactly are you saying is a waste of time?

[latchkey]

There is no way to ensure you don't get screwed in an equity agreement for a failed company. Since most startups fail, worrying about some future event that most likely won't happen, is a waste of time.

Most equity agreements can also be rewritten with numerous "tricks" down the line. A cap table re-org is a great one. Another example: I got written out of a companies equity table once when they shut down the original company, sold the name to a new company for $1 and then did a DBA for the old company name.

You're better off figuring out what happens when the company is actually successful, not what happens if it eventually becomes successful. Does that make better sense now?