[ineil]

It’s a negotiation! Don’t run away, use it to build negotiation muscle even if you don’t progress with it.

If they were just willing to give you 1/3 without negotiating I’d bet they would act the same the negotiating with VCs or customers and the biz would be a disaster!

Use the opportunity to level up and not think like an employee expecting everything to be handed to you on a plate.

I agree with the advice to agree all the parameters of how things will work including who leads and how things get done in all areas. Equity % is just one parameter in a multi variate equation.

[tjs8rj]

Sure always negotiate,

but “If they were just willing to give you 1/3 without negotiating I’d bet they would act the same the negotiating with VCs or customers and the biz would be a disaster!” just isn’t true consistently enough to be useful.

Context is important, but if what OP is saying is correct, them not opening closer to an equal split suggests they have a lack of capabilities assessing their founding team here or it’s their first time around the block.

Maybe you could screw integral founding team members into taking a fraction of the equity they deserve, but you’re setting up shitty team dynamics, dysfunction, and problems to come. For cofounders and employees: I’ve found you’re better off paying the ballpark of what they’re worth and would be excited about vs trying to get them at their bottom dollar