Vesting is crucial for founders because it prevents a situation where a founder leaves the company and takes a significant portion of equity with them, which would be unfair to the remaining founders.

The primary safety mechanism for giving equity is implementing vesting and a cliff, which ensures that co-founders earn their equity over time.

Equity should vest over time, meaning co-founders earn their shares gradually, and cliffs ensure they must stay for a minimum period to receive any equity.

If a founder relationship isn't working out, that founder should leave or be fired before the vesting cliff, as this protects the remaining team and ensures accountability.

Vesting aligns incentives among founders, ensuring they all work together to grow the company before any of them can benefit from their equity.

If you don't establish vesting for co-founders, a fallout can lead to dead weight on your equity table, making it hard to attract investors.

Vesting means that founders gain full ownership of their stock over time, and if they leave before the vesting period ends, they may lose unvested shares.

Single founders should implement vesting on their shares to set a cultural example for employees, demonstrating that everyone is committed to the long-term success of the company.

Founders need to be incentivized to continue working on their startup; without vesting, they could walk away with full ownership at any time, which undermines their commitment to the company.