Being a semi-successful entrepreneur has this really fun element that you get to advise younger entrepreneurs. This is not something I invented, many other entrepreneurs like to help others
And I am still getting advice from quite a few people. I liked what Joel from Buffer did in that context – he allows any entrepreneur to book 30 minutes with him for free startup advice. Like Joel, I also enjoy helping people and am happy to give away free advice. I can’t tell if my points are worth more than 2 cents but people seem to like them so far.
The equity question
One of the more common topics is the question of how much equity should an entrepreneur give an investor. I’m actually not sure why this topic seems important to so many people but I have heard this question in other forms from people who are not entrepreneurs and just want to be nice and look interested.
How much of the company do I own?
Well, to be honest what I have in SOOMLA is less than 15%. I have friends who have 100% of their company and really wish they could switch places. If you are a first time entrepreneur, the difference between making a successful company and making an unsuccessful one is so big that it really doesn’t matter how much of it you will end up owning. However, the more you are able to share your adventure with people who can make an impact the better your chances to succeed. To emphasize this point, you can consider 4 situations:
- Having no investors and no co-founders – this is just foolish
- Having investors but no co-founders – you will soon realize that this path is very hard to go it alone
- Having co-founders but no investors – with 2-3 mouths to feed you will be starving
- Having both co-founders and investors – this is the real path to success
Great article! Especially first-time entrepreneurs have a difficult time with this question. I appreciate the breakdown you gave and the reminder that it’s more important to have diluted equity in a successful company than full ownership of a failure.