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Am I a deadweight in my startup?

I and another friend started a tech startup 3 months ago – we worked on the idea, refined it, started the implementation and hired the full-time people needed.

However, I am working on it all part-time. Now we have around 10 more people working in a full-time capacity. I’m still doing it part time because of own personal reasons. I’m feeling there’s a divide between me and others – I feel I’m not being respected and not being shared info with. We are now about to officially register/decide equity percentage. I don’t think I can be a full-time employee. If they bring this up and decide to give me very little equity, what should I do? Am I just being emotional thinking it is my startup, so I’ve to get a huge share?

  • You: “I am working on it all part-time”

    You: ” I feel I’m not being respected and not being shared info with”.

    If you’re there part-time, do you think that directly correlates with how much information is being shared with you? I imagine that lots of information gets shared in impromptu spurts throughout the day, including the times of day, in which you are not there…

    I doubt people have time to constantly give you a play-by-play.

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  • I agree with the other commenters here … you get what you put in. An idea for a company is only worth so much, execution is everything. If you want the equity and respect you believe you deserve, you need to show up (figuratively and literally).

    Not sure what your personal situation is, but with 10 employees it’s time to commit to it, or not. That single decision should guide what you deserve, IMO.

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  • The main mistake is to not talk about salary or equity before starting the work. “We are all friends” does not work. Why not using the slicing pie method ?

    Since you did not use it, you gave away the initial idea for free, and now the only thing what counts is your workforce versus the workforce of theother persons. You can easily get 70% of the equity – under the condition that you can pay to theothers normal market salaries. If not, you have to pay them with hope (=with a substantial part of the equity).

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  • If you are not there to give everything you got, you are lucky if they actually give you anything at all. An early stage company is never about what’s been done so far. It’s always about the next step. That’s always the hardest part. So if you are basically saying that you should own the future because you have been significant in the past, you better own IP or start working 100% right now. That’s my opinion, and it’s one of the few things I firmly stand by.

    And think about the harm that your lack of commitment might cause to the team. It might be perceived as lack of faith in the potential of the business and therefore a criticism. Anyway, your co-founders are trying to put a team together while you *** around and that’s not cool with me.

    ALWAYS PUT THE TEAM FIRST. That’s my moto.

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