Almost everyone asks this question with the wrong number already in their head. They've heard "give your technical co-founder 50%" and they've heard "never give up more than 10%," and both pieces of advice are describing completely different people. Before you can land on a percentage, you have to be honest about who you're actually hiring.
First, figure out which of three people you're talking to
"A developer" is three different deals wearing the same job title. What you owe changes entirely depending on how much cash is on the table and how much risk they're carrying with you.
If you can pay cash for the build, you are almost certainly hiring a contractor, and contractors get 0% equity. Equity is the currency you use when you can't pay what the work is worth. Don't hand out ownership to avoid an invoice you could actually afford.
What actually moves the number
Once you know you're in genuine co-founder or first-engineer territory, five things push the percentage up or down. Weigh them honestly instead of anchoring on a number a stranger on the internet gave a completely different company.
- How much cash you're also paying. Every dollar of real salary lowers the equity they should expect. Pure sweat equity costs the most ownership; a real paycheck costs the least.
- How early and risky it is. Someone who joins when it's just you and a Figma file takes far more risk than someone who joins after you have paying users. Earlier means more equity.
- Whether they run engineering, or just build this one thing. A co-founder who owns all future technical decisions and hiring is worth more of the company than someone who builds v1 and hands it back.
- How replaceable the work is. A standard CRUD app that many freelancers could build supports less equity than genuinely hard technical work only a few people can do.
- What you bring. If you own the domain expertise, the customer relationships, and the go-to-market, you are carrying real weight too — and you should keep the majority.
Cash plus a small slice usually beats a big equity grant
Here's the trap the "just give them equity" advice walks people into. A developer building your entire product for pure equity has almost no near-term reason to stay. There's no paycheck to lose, the payoff is years away and uncertain, and the moment a client offers them real money, your project is the thing that slips. Founders who go this route are the ones most likely to end up in the "my developer ghosted me" situation six months later.
Cash is a one-time cost. Equity is forever. Every point you give away is a point you're still paying out the day the company finally succeeds.
Whenever you can, structure it as mostly cash plus a small equity stake rather than a large grant with no pay. Even below-market cash changes the relationship — now there's accountability, a reason to hit deadlines, and skin in the game on both sides. You also keep far more of the company for the round where it actually matters: when you raise money or sell.
Protect yourself no matter what number you land on
The percentage matters less than the paperwork around it. A 25% grant with no protections is far more dangerous than a 35% grant done properly. Before anyone writes a line of code, get these in place:
- 1Vesting with a one-year cliff. Equity is earned over time (four years is standard), and nothing vests if they leave in the first year. This is the single most important protection — it means a developer who disappears in month three walks away with nothing.
- 2A written agreement. Percentage, vesting, roles, and what happens if it ends. A handshake equity deal is how founders lose control of their own company.
- 3IP assignment in writing. The code, accounts, and designs must legally belong to the company, not to the individual. Without this, someone can build "your" product and legally own it.
- 4Your name on everything. You hold the domain, the repositories, the cloud accounts, and the app store listings. Never let the only admin access live with the person you might one day part ways with.
- 5A defined scope and milestones. Especially for a first engineer or contractor — know what "done" means before you start, so equity or payment is tied to real delivery.
When the honest answer is "don't give equity at all"
If you have the money to fund the build and you believe in the idea, the cleanest move is often to pay cash, keep 100%, and bring on a technical partner later from a position of strength — once there's traction and the equity you trade is worth more to them and costs less of the company to you. Giving away a third of your business to avoid a bill you could have paid is the most expensive shortcut in early-stage building.
The reverse is also true: if you genuinely can't fund it and you can't build it yourself, a real technical partner earning a fair, well-structured stake is worth far more than 100% of an idea that never ships. The goal isn't to give away as little as possible. It's to match what you give to what the person is actually carrying — and to write it down properly before you start.
Common follow-up questions
Is 50% too much to give a technical co-founder?
Usually, yes — unless they're a true equal partner taking the same risk you are, bringing money or customers of their own, and running the entire technical company with no salary. If you own the idea, the domain expertise, and the go-to-market, and they're building the product, most balanced first-time deals land the builder somewhere in the 15–35% range rather than a straight split.
Can I pay a developer entirely in equity?
You can, but it's the riskiest structure for you. A developer working for pure equity has no near-term reason to prioritize your project over paying work, which is a common path to a stalled or abandoned build. If you go this route, insist on vesting with a one-year cliff, a written scope, and full IP assignment — and expect to give up more ownership than you would if you paid some cash.
What's a fair split if they build the MVP and then stay on to run engineering?
That's co-founder territory, not contractor territory. If they're taking reduced or no pay and owning all future technical decisions, a common range is 10–40% depending on how much cash is involved and how early they joined. Put it on a four-year vesting schedule so the equity is earned by staying, not just by shipping version one.
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