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In my first post about how to split the pie when you start a business, we where 3 founders. After, what we can call a "trust crisis", one of us left the boat. Now we are trying to fix the business plan and continue. It's easier (but not easy) to split the pie.

Here is the preview of a new spreadsheet:

Criterias:

• Idea: How the idea of your business grow up, who have been enlightened and who give the direction to the road you're going to build ?
• Business plan: Who set the checkpoints on the road ? How are you going to build your product, to sell your product
• Domain expertise: Who is going to build and sell the product and who is capable to do so.
• Commitment & risk: You're working full time in your new company ? Sure, you're more commited than the one who give some time when he has to do. Note: in the example above, I set 1 for 1 day per week and 5 for full time.
• Responsabilities: CEO have more reponsabilities than employee
• Cash: cash you put in the company if you do

Notes:

• Weights may not fit with your project. Before putting numbers in founders' cells, you will have to agree with other founders on weights.

Since few monthes, We (me and 2 others people) are trying to start our company. The first problem is we worked for it, we are working for it and we are going to work for it but not with the same ratio of time. Some worked part time and will work part time and others will work full time.

Second problem: One of the two others thinks that experience (age) must be taken in consideration to calculate the distribution. I don't think so, maybe because I'm the youngest, but really because knowledge of technical issues and target market are not directly related with experience.

I read this article about a method to split the pie. It helps me to clarify my thoughts but it didn't resolved the problems (mainly because numbers you puts in cells are purely subjective.

Note: I created a founders’ pie calculator based on the article but with some improvements (Cash contribution and Venture Capitalist dilution). Here is the open document spreadsheet (available in excel format, converted by openoffice).

We didn't agree on the repartition yet, so I will surely post another entry about this subject.