Ask HN: Going from solo-founder to co-founder; how to give equity affordably?

2 pointsby touchofevilقبل 9 سنوات1 comments

I've bootstrapped a web startup that I had developed by a paid freelancer. I'm a non-technical solo-founder and the freelancer I hired owns no equity in the company. The minimum viable product is now finished and I think it would be a good idea for me to bring on a technical co-founder to start working on some of the more complicated features that will be needed for the site in the long term. I'll have to offer this co-founder equity only, since I spent the funds I had available getting the MVP built.

My startup is organized as a single owner California LLC. I'm wondering what would be the most cost effective way for me to add a co-founder to my company and set up a vesting schedule for the equity they would receive? Are there online tools that could help me accomplish this affordably? My budget for something like this would be around $500 or under.

PS. I know that forming a Delaware corp is ideal for startups, but I don't know that I can afford to reorganize my company that way right now.

PPS. Raising seed funding is not an option right now as I've applied to multiple accelerators and been rejected, though I still have my fingers crossed for YC! My startup is in the ancillary cannabis space, which can be a limiting factor in terms of accelerators.

1 comments

kp1قبل 9 سنوات

Maybe this? https://danashultz.com/2014/05/14/how-do-we-issue-llc-member...

You may also want/need a lawyer to double check everything.

Good Luck!