Technical co-founders and early employees often get exploited and undervalued in startups, leading to unfair equity splits.

It's common for technical employees to receive significantly less equity than their non-technical counterparts, which can lead to feelings of being ripped off.

Most startups are not generous enough with employee equity, and you should demand fair treatment in terms of compensation.

Before distributing equity, consider how many people you need to hire and how much equity you plan to allocate for their compensation. The first employee at a traditional Silicon Valley startup typically receives between one and two percent equity.

The first four to six years of a tech startup are critical for value creation, and even if one founder stays longer, it's important to share equity generously with co-founders who contributed to the startup's early success.

If a co-founder leaves or is fired before their one-year cliff, it's typical for them to receive only a small amount of equity, usually between 2% to 5%.

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.

In a startup with multiple founders, equity allocation should ideally be equal to avoid potential conflicts and ensure trust among the team.

When deciding on equity, start with a 50-50 split, as both co-founders are likely to contribute equally at the beginning stages of the startup.