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Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement
A pre-incorporation agreement among co-founders locking in the equity split, roles, vesting, IP ownership, decision rights, and what happens if someone leaves.
What is a Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement?
A Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement is a pre-incorporation agreement among co-founders locking in the equity split, roles, vesting, IP ownership, decision rights, and what happens if someone leaves.
Co-founders working together before (or right as) they incorporate. Getting the split, vesting, and departure terms in writing early prevents the single most common startup-killing dispute. It also assigns everyone's pre-company IP into the venture so ownership is clean when investors look.
Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement template, current for 2026
Combines the equity split, founder vesting, IP assignment, decision-making, and departure/buyback terms into one plain-language agreement, where older templates treat these piecemeal. It adds an AI-tooling and model-training IP acknowledgment, a modern deadlock mechanism, and a bridge clause that carries the terms into the eventual restricted-stock purchase agreements at incorporation.
How HDAi does this differently
Unlike a static form, HDAi runs a guided interview and assembles your Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement as you answer. When you want it finished, a licensed Hart David Carson attorney reviews it and tailors it to your facts before you sign. The interview and the first draft are automated. The judgment belongs to an attorney.
What you’ll be asked
A short interview in plain language that asks only what this document needs.
- What is the intended name of the company you plan to form? This is the entity the founders will incorporate. Used throughout as the company you are agreeing to build together.
- What type of entity do you plan to form? Drives the equity language (shares vs. membership units) and default tax/vesting mechanics.
- In which U.S. state do you intend to incorporate or organize the company? Sets the entity's home jurisdiction. Often, but not always, the same as your governing-law choice.
- Which state's law should govern this agreement? Determines which state's contract law interprets this agreement and where disputes are resolved.
- In a few sentences, describe the business the founders will build together. Defines the shared venture and the scope of the 'Business', which is important for the IP-assignment and non-compete provisions.
- What is the effective date of this agreement? The date the founders' obligations begin, typically the day everyone signs, often before the entity legally exists.
- How many co-founders are there? Sets how many founder blocks appear below. Add each founder as a separate party. The document supports up to six founders.
- Founder 1: name, notice address, role/title, and equity allocation. Enter this founder's full legal name and notice address. Use the title field for the proposed role (e.g., CEO). If your input offers an equity field, enter this founder's percentage or share count consistent with the equity basis you chose; otherwise it is completed on Exhibit A.
- Founder 2: name, notice address, role/title, and equity allocation. Enter this founder's full legal name and notice address, proposed title, and equity allocation.
- Founder 3: name, notice address, role/title, and equity allocation. Enter this founder's full legal name and notice address, proposed title, and equity allocation.
- Founder 4: name, notice address, role/title, and equity allocation. Enter this founder's full legal name and notice address, proposed title, and equity allocation.
- Founder 5: name, notice address, role/title, and equity allocation. Enter this founder's full legal name and notice address, proposed title, and equity allocation.
- Founder 6: name, notice address, role/title, and equity allocation. Enter this founder's full legal name and notice address, proposed title, and equity allocation.
- Which founder, if any, will serve as the lead/CEO for decision-making purposes? Identifies the person with day-to-day operational authority and, where used, a tie-breaking vote. Leave blank if fully co-equal.
- How is the equity split expressed? The split can be stated as percentages of the founders' pool or as a fixed number of shares or units. This choice drives the Exhibit A capitalization table.
- How many total shares/units will initially be issued to the founders (the founder pool)? The aggregate founder allocation. Individual grants are computed from each founder's percentage of this pool.
- What percentage will you reserve for a future employee option/equity pool? Sets aside equity for future hires so the founders share the dilution up front. Enter 0 if none is reserved now.
- Will the founders' equity be subject to vesting? Vesting means a founder earns their equity over time; unvested equity can be repurchased if they leave. Strongly recommended.
- Over how many years will equity vest? The standard startup schedule is four years. Longer schedules retain founders longer.
- How long is the vesting cliff (in months)? Before the cliff, nothing vests; on the cliff date a lump vests at once. The market standard is a one-year (12-month) cliff.
- After the cliff, how often does the remaining equity vest? Sets the drip rate at which equity continues to vest after the cliff is met. The per-installment fraction is stated in the document.
- When does the vesting clock start? Vesting commencement is usually backdated to when the founder actually started working, so pre-signing contribution counts.
- What is the vesting commencement date? The exact date the vesting clock begins. Only needed if you chose a specific date above.
- Describe each founder's individual vesting schedule. Because you chose differing schedules, spell out each founder's terms so the agreement is unambiguous.
- Should any vesting accelerate on a company sale (single-trigger acceleration)? Single-trigger means unvested equity vests automatically if the company is acquired, even if the founder keeps their job.
- Should vesting accelerate if a founder is terminated after a sale (double-trigger acceleration)? Double-trigger means unvested equity vests only if BOTH a sale happens AND the founder is let go without cause within a set window. Most acquirer-friendly.
- If a founder leaves, at what price may the company repurchase their UNVESTED equity? Standard practice is to buy back unvested equity at the lower of cost or Fair Market Value, so departing founders don't retain equity they didn't earn. Fair Market Value is a defined term with a determination waterfall.
- May the company (or other founders) also repurchase a departing founder's VESTED equity? Some founder teams want the option to buy back even earned equity from someone who leaves. This is a significant, sometimes contested, right.
- How should 'Disability' be defined for departure and leaver purposes? Sets the objective threshold at which a founder is treated as unable to serve. The document uses a good-faith determination consistent with applicable law; this confirms the standard window.
- Will any founder contribute cash or assets (beyond labor) at formation? Distinguishes 'sweat equity' from cash/asset contributions, which may be documented separately and affect the split.
- Describe each cash or asset contribution and by whom. Records who put in what beyond time, so the record is clear if the split is ever challenged.
- Do any founders currently hold outside employment or consulting engagements? Flags employer assignment-of-inventions, moonlighting, and non-compete obligations that could taint the company's IP or a founder's availability.
- Describe each outside employer/engagement and any IP, moonlighting, or non-compete terms that could apply. Disclose enough that the other founders and counsel can assess conflicts and clean IP. Note whether work is done on personal time and equipment only.
- How should intellectual property created for the venture be owned? Critical for investors and acquirers: all venture IP must live in the company, not with individual founders.
- List any prior inventions, IP, or works each founder wants to EXCLUDE from assignment. Anything pre-existing and unrelated that a founder wants to keep out of the company. Leave blank if none.
- Are there any existing SAFEs, convertible notes, or pre-formation financing instruments? Any outstanding convertible instrument or promise of equity must be disclosed so the cap table and this split remain accurate at formation.
- Describe each outstanding SAFE, convertible note, or other financing instrument. Include holder, amount, valuation cap or discount, and date, so the instrument can be reflected in the capitalization table.
- Include mutual confidentiality obligations among the founders? Protects the venture's non-public information, which the founders will inevitably share while building.
- Should founders agree not to compete with the venture while involved? Restricts founders from building a competing business during their involvement. Enforceability varies by state; California and some others bar it, and the document voids it where prohibited and falls back to non-solicit.
- How many months should the post-departure non-compete tail last? The period after a founder leaves during which they still may not compete. Keep it reasonable for enforceability.
- How many months should the non-solicitation of employees/customers last after a founder leaves? Prevents a departing founder from poaching the company's people and customers for a set period. Also serves as the fallback where a non-compete is void.
- Which major decisions should require unanimous or supermajority founder approval? These are the 'protective' decisions no single founder should make alone. Selecting them locks in shared control on the big questions.
- What debt amount should trigger the founder-approval requirement? The aggregate indebtedness level above which taking on debt requires the major-decision approval threshold. Enter a dollar amount. Leave blank to have the founders set it by resolution.
- What approval level do those major decisions require? Unanimous gives every founder a veto; supermajority balances protection with the ability to act.
- How should a deadlock among founders be resolved? Provides an escape valve when founders can't agree, so the company isn't paralyzed.
- Should founders be restricted from transferring their equity to outsiders? Right-of-first-refusal and co-sale rights keep the cap table clean and prevent unwanted third parties from buying in.
- Should the agreement distinguish 'good leaver' from 'bad leaver' outcomes? A good leaver (e.g., leaves amicably) keeps more; a bad leaver (fired for cause) keeps less. Adds nuance to the departure terms.
- Will founders take salary before the company is funded? Sets expectations on cash comp so no one assumes a paycheck the company can't afford yet.
- Will the company reimburse founders for out-of-pocket expenses? Clarifies whether pre-funding costs a founder fronts are debts of the company or personal contributions.
- Do any founders have an immigration or work-authorization status that affects their services? Visa and work-authorization status can limit what a non-citizen founder may do or when, and matters for the founder's representations. This is not immigration advice; confirm with counsel.
- How should disputes under this agreement be resolved? Sets the forum for legal disputes. Arbitration is private and often faster; courts allow appeals.
- In what city and state should arbitration be held? The seat of arbitration. Usually where the company or most founders are based.
- Include a spousal/community-property consent for married founders? In community-property states, a spouse may have an interest in a founder's equity. Their consent avoids surprises later.
- Any additional terms, side deals, or special provisions to include? Catch-all for anything unique to your team that the standard sections don't cover, including any custom disability definition. Leave blank if none.
Frequently asked
About the Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement and how HDAi works.
What is a Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement? +
A Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement is a pre-incorporation agreement among co-founders locking in the equity split, roles, vesting, IP ownership, decision rights, and what happens if someone leaves. Co-founders sign it while working together before (or right as) they incorporate. Getting the split, vesting, and departure terms in writing early prevents the single most common startup-killing dispute, and the agreement also assigns everyone's pre-company IP into the venture so ownership is clean when investors look.
Is HDAi's Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement legally binding? +
Once completed, reviewed, and properly signed, the Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement HDAi generates is binding, and it is professionally drafted. A licensed Hart David Carson attorney will finish it if you book a planning call. Company Launch and the Illinois Family Plan, the firm's flat-fee packages, cover the most common needs; for any other draft, an Illinois attorney will tell you on the call what finishing it would involve.
Do I need a lawyer to use this Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement? +
You can generate and download the Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement in minutes, free of charge. A licensed Hart David Carson attorney can then review it and tailor it to your facts before you sign, which is the part no template can do.
What makes this Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement current for 2026? +
Combines the equity split, founder vesting, IP assignment, decision-making, and departure/buyback terms into one plain-language agreement, where older templates treat these piecemeal. It adds an AI-tooling and model-training IP acknowledgment, a modern deadlock mechanism, and a bridge clause that carries the terms into the eventual restricted-stock purchase agreements at incorporation.
How long does the Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement take? +
Estimated time about 27 min (54 questions), depending on how much you already know. The document assembles as you answer. Export it as PDF or Word, or send it to a Hart David Carson attorney for review.
Does this Founder Collaboration & Equity Split Agreement work in my state? +
HDAi's interview is state-aware. If you ask an attorney to finish the draft, a licensed Hart David Carson attorney confirms it against your state's requirements before you rely on it. Validity and required formalities vary by state.
Related documents
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Nevada Articles of Incorporation (C-Corp)→Delaware Public Benefit Corporation Certificate→Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Certificate (Delaware)→Delaware C-Corporation Incorporation Package→Initial Board Consent (Organizational Action)→Founder Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement (with Vesting & IP Assignment)→