Equity Split Agreement Template
How to Split Startup Equity Fairly

You and your co-founder have been brainstorming for weeks. The idea is solid. The energy is high. You're ready to start building. And then someone asks the question that ruins the vibe: "So... how are we splitting equity?"

This conversation is uncomfortable because it forces you to put a number on things that feel immeasurable -- friendship, trust, potential, commitment. But here's the truth: the equity split conversation is the single most important conversation you'll have as co-founders. Get it wrong, and it will poison everything that follows. Get it right, and you've built the foundation for a partnership that can survive the stress of building a startup.

We've seen this play out dozens of times at our Miami studio. Two founders launch a company, skip the equity conversation because "we'll figure it out later," and six months in -- when one person is working 80-hour weeks and the other has gone quiet -- there's no agreement, no vesting, and a friendship on the line.

Don't be those founders. Have the conversation now. Use this guide and template to structure it. It won't be comfortable, but it will be worth it.

50/50 Split

When it works: Both founders are going full-time from day one. Both bring roughly equal but complementary skills -- one technical, one business, for example. Both are taking the same financial risk. Both have been involved since the very beginning.

When it doesn't: When one founder had been working on the idea for a year before bringing the other on. When one is full-time and the other is "nights and weekends." When one is investing capital and the other isn't. A 50/50 split out of politeness, when the contributions are clearly unequal, breeds resentment over time.

60/40 Split

When it works: One founder is clearly the driving force -- the CEO who's full-time, the one who originated the concept and did initial customer validation -- but the other is a critical contributor who's also committing fully. This split acknowledges the difference without making it feel dramatic.

When it doesn't: When the 40% partner is actually doing 20% of the work but you're trying to be nice. Be honest.

70/30 Split

When it works: One founder has been building for months, has domain expertise, has initial traction or customer relationships, and is bringing on a co-founder to fill a specific gap (usually technical or operational). The 30% co-founder is getting a significant stake for joining something already in motion.

When it doesn't: When the 30% partner is expected to do 50% of the work going forward. The split should reflect both past contribution and future commitment.

When founders in Miami and across Latin America come to us asking how to split equity, we walk them through five factors. No formula will give you a perfect answer, but these factors will structure the conversation.

1. The Idea (Worth Less Than You Think)

Every first-time founder overvalues the idea. "But I came up with it!" Yes, and ideas are worth approximately nothing without execution. The idea for Uber existed in every frustrated taxi passenger's mind before Travis Kalanick. The idea for Airbnb occurred to everyone who had a spare room and needed rent money. The difference is execution.

If your only contribution is the idea, you're looking at 5-10% equity, not 50%. That might sting, but the founder who builds the product, acquires customers, and operates the business daily is the one creating value.

2. Who's Building It

The person writing the code, designing the product, or managing the software development is contributing something tangible and irreplaceable. Technical execution in the early days is the single biggest value driver. If you're the technical co-founder building the product, your equity should reflect that.

3. Who's Funding It

Capital contribution matters, but it's not the only thing. A founder who puts in $50K of their savings is taking a real, quantifiable risk. That should be reflected in equity -- or structured separately as a convertible note so the equity split stays clean.

4. Domain Expertise

Does one founder have 15 years in the industry you're disrupting? Do they have relationships with 200 potential customers? Do they understand the regulatory landscape? Domain expertise is the hardest thing to hire for. If you have it, your equity should reflect that.

5. Full-Time vs Part-Time

This is the factor that causes the most resentment when ignored. If one founder quits their job to work on the startup full-time and the other is contributing "evenings and weekends," they are not taking the same risk. The full-time founder is giving up salary, benefits, career progression, and sleep. That deserves more equity. Period.

If you remember one thing from this article, remember this: always vest. Every founder, every time, no exceptions.

Vesting means you earn your equity over time rather than owning it all from day one. The standard structure is:

• 4-year vesting period with a 1-year cliff
• After the 1-year cliff, 25% of your shares vest
• The remaining 75% vest monthly over the next 3 years

Why does this matter? Because people leave. Life happens. Priorities change. A co-founder who leaves after 3 months shouldn't walk away with 50% of a company they stopped contributing to. Vesting protects everyone -- including you.

We've seen founders at Miami accelerators lose half their company because a co-founder left after four months with no vesting agreement. The remaining founder did all the work for the next three years but still owed half the equity to someone who had moved on. Don't let this happen to you.

If you want to learn more about how equity partnerships work in a studio model, read about venture studios vs venture capital.

There's a third option that many founders in Miami don't know about: the venture studio model.

In a venture studio partnership, the studio provides the entire technical team -- developers, designers, product managers -- in exchange for equity instead of cash. You keep the majority of your company. The studio gets a meaningful stake (typically 20-40%) and builds the product alongside you.

This model solves one of the most painful equity conversations: "I have the domain expertise and the customer relationships, but I need a technical co-founder." Instead of giving 50% to one developer you found on LinkedIn, you give 20-30% to an entire team with a track record of shipping products.

If you're a non-technical founder with deep industry expertise, this is worth exploring. You bring the market knowledge. We bring the development team. No salary. No retainer. Equity only.

The equity split conversation gets harder the longer you wait. When there's no product, no revenue, and no traction, equity is theoretical. Everyone is reasonable about theoretical money. Once there's a product, customers, and revenue, equity becomes real -- and people become much less reasonable.

Have the conversation now. Use this template as a starting point. Be honest about contributions. Always vest. And get it in writing.

If you're still in the planning stage, start with a one-page business plan to clarify what you're building, then have the equity conversation with a clear picture of who's responsible for what.

Ready to build? Email us at partners@awasero.com or learn about our venture studio partnerships.