Equity splits should maximize the motivation of your co-founders to stay committed to the company over the long term.

Aim for close to equal equity splits among co-founders to maintain motivation and prevent resentment.

Co-founders should decide on the equity split early in their partnership, ideally soon after they start working together, and it should be near equal.

Ideally, co-founders should have developed the idea together and worked on building the product from the start, but even if one co-founder joined later, an even equity split is still preferred.

While equal equity splits are a common guideline, they may not always be applicable; consider the future motivation of your co-founders when deciding on equity distribution.

I advise being generous with co-founder equity to motivate for the long term and to protect oneself in the process. Performance-based equity is a bad idea because it's difficult to set clear goals at the beginning of a tech startup, and those goals often change as the company pivots.

When distributing co-founder equity, consider not just immediate contributions but also long-term motivation over the entire vesting period.

It's advisable to split equity equally between co-founders to ensure both feel equally invested in the startup's success.

Equity splits among founders should generally be more or less equal to avoid future conflicts, as significant mismatches can lead to resentment and issues down the line.