Ask HN: Allocation of Company Stock
As a first-time startup founder I have a rosy picture of what I'd like to happen with my company stock, which I know is naive but also "feels right". I'm sure you must have seen other founders with similarly naive ideas, so I'd be grateful for your input.
Here's what I'd like to do:
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Allocate 1/16th of my shares to friends and family. 1/64th each to my parents for incubating me. 1/192th to each of 6 friends and siblings for business acumen or counsel.
Have an initial valuation of £192 million.
Intend to take investment by selling 1/16th of my remaining 15/16th shares at a time to the best fit investor at a time, without changing the valuation. So I could hypothetically sell 1/16th to Andreessen Horowitz for £1, and/or 1/16th to my 2nd cousin for £10 million. This assumes I have runway to take investment in good time (as PG says, when investors are chasing you, not the other way around).
No change to valuation, no intention to go public.
Hire employees with a fixed 1/192th each (while looking for the "right" hire, use contractors instead).
No intention to bring on a co-founder.
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What are your thoughts? Is this actual malpractice? Workable but inadvisable? Do you know a specific resource that I should use to learn this topic properly?
(I'm keen to hear the "why's" and counter-examples, not only "I can tell this is the least of your worries" :-)
Do you know of any other companies that have taken alternative/different approaches in the past?
Thanks!