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Co-Founder Equity Split

A split every founder can defend: expectations written down, contributions weighed, a cap table, vesting and leaver terms signed early, and the reviews that keep the deal fair as roles change.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Co-Founder Equity Split, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

207

Starter tasks

🚀 Founding & Startups

Co-Founder Equity Split

Agreeing a fair equity split and vesting schedule between co-founders, with the hard conversations held before the company has value.

  1. Ground rules for the first equity conversation
  2. Private expectations memo from each founder
  3. Contribution inventory of past and future work
  4. First cap table on a fully diluted basis
  5. Equal or weighted split decision
  6. Founder vesting schedule and cliff
  7. Acceleration terms on a sale of the company
  8. Choosing a startup lawyer for founder documents
  9. Founder share issue and tax election checklist
  10. Independent advice for each founder
  11. Cap table change log
  12. Monthly founder vesting statement
  13. Quarterly contribution check-in
  14. Annual review of the founder equity agreement
  15. Equity decisions register
  16. Part-time founder hours log
  17. Founder equity document vault
  18. Dilution model refresh before each raise
  19. Founder equity questions parking lot
  20. Option pool sizing and top-up plan
  21. Cap table mechanics for founders
  22. Vesting, cliffs and leaver terms explained
  23. How SAFEs, notes and priced rounds dilute founders
  24. Founder equity clauses in a term sheet
  25. Equity split frameworks compared
  26. Rehearsing the equity conversation
  27. Founder share tax basics with an accountant
  28. Weighted contribution scoring workshop
  29. Cash contributions versus sweat equity
  30. IP assignment before shares are issued
  31. Good leaver and bad leaver definitions
  32. Separating ownership from control
  33. Founder salary and equity trade-off
  34. Revisiting the split after a role change
  35. Deadlock rules for an even split
  36. Founders' equity offsite
  37. Signing day for founder share documents
  38. One-year cliff review meeting
  39. Cap table clean-up before investor diligence
  40. Two-founder technical and commercial pair
  41. Three or more founders joining at different times
  42. Bringing in a late co-founder
  43. Part-time co-founder still in a day job
  44. Co-founding with a partner, sibling or close friend
  45. Co-founders living in different countries
  46. Student co-founders splitting equity
  47. Negotiating re-vesting with a lead investor
  48. Founder share classes and voting rights
  49. Dynamic equity model for the pre-funding phase
  50. Founder holding company structures

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Ground rules for the first equity conversation

Founders who leave equity until after the first customer or the first term sheet end up negotiating against value, pride and hindsight at the same time. Agreeing when, where and how the split will be discussed, before anyone names a number, keeps the first conversation about principles rather than positions.

First tasks

  • Message your co-founders proposing a date for the equity conversation
  • Draft four ground rules for how the conversation will run
  • List the topics the conversation must cover before anyone signs
  • Book a quiet, uninterrupted half day away from the usual work space

Private expectations memo from each founder

Each founder walks into the split with a number in their head and a story about why it is fair, and those stories rarely match. Writing a one-page memo privately, then swapping, surfaces the gaps in hopes for ownership, salary, title and time commitment before they turn into resentment.

First tasks

  • Write your own one-page memo on ownership, role, hours and salary needs
  • Agree a day and time when all memos are shared at once
  • Mark where the memos agree and where they differ
  • Add each gap to the agenda for the equity conversation

Contribution inventory of past and future work

Arguments about who deserves more usually mix up what someone has already done with what they will do over the next four years. An inventory that separates the idea, prototype work, cash, contacts and IP brought so far from the commitments each founder makes going forward puts both on the table at fair weight.

First tasks

  • Create a shared table with columns for past and future contributions
  • Fill in your own rows and ask each co-founder to fill in theirs
  • Challenge any line that seems overstated or missing, politely and in writing
  • Write three sentences on which contributions matter most from here

Make it yours.

Install Co-Founder Equity Split, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.