93. How should equity be split between founders, (early) employees, consultants and investors when the company is bootstrapped? Here’s my #1 suggestion for your co-founder. Both of you should have 5 year vesting with a 12 (or better yet, 18) month cliff, effective as of date of funding or full commercial launch, whichever is first. With zero pre-vesting before that. Beyond that, you can figure out relative equity based on relative value and when they join. 1:1? 2:1? 4:1? I don’t know. But if you have 5 year vesting, that will ensure true mutual long-ish term commitment. And a 12-month cliff from the real Day 1 ... with zero credit for all the hard work before the hard work ... ensures you don’t get burned by even unintentional short- timers. You’ll find that those who aren’t 100% truly committed tend to cycle out around months 12-18. SAASTR.COM 91