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8 min 12 sec

Q&A: “What’s a fair founder-investor deal between friends?”

Cash can launch the product; labor will keep it alive. Today we map out founder-friendly splits, vesting schedules, and a simple “dynamic equity” formula that grows with effort.

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What It's About

What’s a fair way to split equity when one friend brings cash and the other does the work?

Notes from Chris

Episode 3234
Money and friendship mix like epoxy—permanent if done right, messy if rushed. Tessa owns the idea and the grind; Rico supplies a crucial $25 K lifeline. The instinct is to shake hands on 50–50, but parity today can breed bitterness tomorrow when one partner’s calendar is full of late-night emails and the other’s full of Netflix. Let’s engineer a split—and a vesting path—that pays cash its due while rewarding ongoing contribution.

"I’m a designer with a prototype travel accessory. My college friend Rico loves the idea and can invest $25,000 in cash, while I’ll handle product development, branding, and ops. We’re both worried of resentment down the road: if we go 50–50 now but I’m working nights while he’s mostly passive, is that fair? On the flip side, without his capital I can’t fund the first production run. What equity split keeps our incentives aligned and feels future-proof for both work and money contributions?"

Listen to today's episode to learn more...

 
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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau