Is being offered 23% of a company an insult as a partner in a start up? I am responsible for building and designing the entire web app, coding the Frontend, backend, and digitizing all requirements for our proof of concept. My partner found me on LinkedIn. Its his idea, he will be running business functions, marketing, client onboarding, and he has a few real clients to do a trial run with. We’ve been working together for two months in a trial period and now we want to write up contract. How do I value myself?! ……This is my first start up !
Absolutely. You want to evaluate their ability to pull this off. Are they really good at sales and marketing? Do they make good financial decisions? What qualifications do they have for being the CEO? Why are they not getting a loan to pay your salary and keeping 100% ownership? Who else are they hiring? How have they diluted the company in other areas? How good are these potential customers and the idea? What roles will be expected of you long-term? Will these stocks pay dividends? When? What other compensation is laid out for the future when the company becomes profitable? What happens if the cofounder leaves? (That’ll be covered by a good agreement along with other contingencies)
You certainly don’t want to be holding their hand through the process. Especially if you have less than 50% equity.