How to spread risk as tech co-founder?

Question

I&rsquo;m considering helping non-tech co-founders with their idea. The ones I have spoken to are pre-funding. I&rsquo;d likely be architecting and building MVP/version 1.I&rsquo;d be working at this full time so would be looking for a wage within a year - what is the best way to hedge my bets pre-funding? Work with two 20hrs/week each? Or work on one at a time and look to fail fast within a couple months?I don&rsquo;t want to burn my co-founder relationship by suggesting something that is uncommon.

matt_s · Accepted Answer

You state that you would be working free for a year? I would think a decent chunk of equity with some percentage payout+vest at first funding round is appropriate especially if you are a co-founder. You gotta eat, right?What type of tech/MVP is it? You don't have to be specific but if its a SaaS and CRUD type of app you could work on MVP on nights+weekends. I wouldn't spend time architecting much (e.g. planning for scale, hosting, CDN, etc.) until there are paying customers, keep it as simple as possible to start and be small-a agile in the sense that you can pivot quickly.

brudgers · Answer

The best way to hedge your bets is to fold or go all in.
If the success of the company depends on your efforts, then going part way lowers the odds of success.
In regard to funding, if the non-tech founders can't bring in money, what are they supposed to be doing?
If you want to be paid, then not being paid is going to wreck your relationship.
If you expect to be paid, don't work for free.
Good luck.