Attorneys from WilmerHale's Emerging Company Practice will explore the most critical issues facing entrepreneurs and early-stage companies during our QuickLaunch University Webinar Series. Over the next several months, we will share key takeaways from each webinar. This month, we take a look at founder equity.
On May 10, WilmerHale Partners David Haber and Ed Pease explored the fundamental concepts around founder equity and founder agreements, and shared seven things that startups need to know about founder equity:
- Do address the hard decisions early on and resolve issues quickly
- Do understand the roles of each Founder and their relative future contributions to the Company's success
- Do subject Founder equity to vesting
- Don't wait too long to issue Founder equity
- Don't over value past contributions
- Don't over-allocate equity to non-active Founders
- Don't overcomplicate your cap table
Read more about allocating founder equity. You can also view the webinar materials.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.