I have been offered a co-founder position. (US registered company) As per my understanding, there are usually no contracts between co-founders. Would like to know where it will be documented that I'm co-founder (to show as proof). Also how will the stakes be assigned? Not asking about the percentage but whether there will be a document to show that i have x% stakes in the company
You definitely want a contract in place. Depending on whether you're a full partner (with 33 or 50% equity) vs a contributing member, you may want to use a SAFE or simple agreement for future equity.
Splits in work and responsibility are definitely tough, especially when you're offering a very specific expertise and working part time.
If you're doing this for huge scale with VCs involved, you want to make sure all your ts are crossed (documents, contracts etc). But if you're exploring an idea with friends, the first thing is to validate your hypothesis with an MVP.
I've written a bit about arrangements in early companies for equity and cash here.
https://mvpengineer.com/pros-and-cons-of-equity-based-technical-cofounders/
Hi
Good question.
There are definitely documents between co-founders. The most important one being a 'co-founder' agreement. I draft lots of them each month, and this is a very important agreement (especially considering that the #3 reason for startup failures is fights between co-founders).
You also want to be sure that the stock is allocated to you. This can be done by giving you a A Deed of Assignment of Stock Subscription, or by updating the company registrar of the transfer of stocks (shares) - but the process depends on which state the company is registered in.
Good luck
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