founding-exec-team

Start by asking the best technical people you already know, then request introductions from them. Avoid contracting an engineering team, since great products require continuous iteration. Consider learning to code yourself if no partner is available immediately.

A true late-arriving co-founder typically receives around 10% up to an equal share with existing founders, while senior engineers or founding team members receive 1-5%. Grants should be common shares with standard four-year vesting and a one-year cliff.

About two-thirds of successful B2B startups hired an engineer as employee number one. If the founding team can build the V1 itself, hire instead to de-risk or un-bottleneck areas like customer success, compliance expertise, or design.

Use a founder prenup covering values, vision, and decision rights before committing, plus regular structured check-ins. For active tension, follow a four-step process: name feelings precisely, stay curious about root causes, describe observable behavior only, then problem-solve with trial agreements.

Replace early leaders when they cannot bridge from functional management to cross-functional executive influence as the organization scales. Ben Horowitz's test: a true executive is effective with other parts of the organization, not just their own department.