Slicing Pie
by Mike Moyer · first published 2012
29mentions
12recommended by
22HN commenters
2012–2023first – last mentioned
55% recommend45% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Practical guide to a dynamic equity split for early-stage startups, where ownership adjusts to each cofounder's unpaid work and contributions. Suits bootstrapped founders wanting a fairer option than a fixed 50/50.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Having a small business or startup business with tons of decision to make is mind bubbling brain-wreck, but I tried reading the Book Slicing pie Mike Moyer and it all made sense, in his book he emphasized the startup equity by providing an example; also talked about splitting equity using the-grunt-fund-calculator grunt calculator and dig in to…
on “Ask HN: Review my startup, ReminderBook” ↗Having a small business or startup business with tons of decision to make is mind bubbling brain-wreck, but I tried reading the Book Slicing pie Mike Moyer and it all made sense, in his book he emphasized the startup equity by providing an example; also talked about splitting equity using the-grunt-fund-calculator grunt calculator and dig in to…
on “Financial planning for SaaS Startups” ↗Re: compensation, transparency is critical. One approach that might work well for Co-op based startups is the "dynamic equity split" as outlined by Mike Moyer in his book "Slicing Pie" - see also: http://www.slicingpie.com
on “How to Co-Op: Salaries and Reviews” ↗You might check out the book/concept called Slicing Pie by Mike Moyer. It addresses situations like this. The quick summary is to allow equity ownership to change based on work done for the company that is not paid out in salary. Start with an agreed upon…
on “Ask HN: How to deal with a founder that won't leave his job (maybe)?” ↗Have you considered Mike Moyer's method, described in the Slicing Pie? http://slicingpie.com/ It is pretty fair and adjusts over the time based on the delivered values.
on “Ask HN: What % equity should I give to CTO?” ↗Interesting way could be using the approach suggested in the book "Slicing pie" by Mike Moyer You can find in on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Slicing-Pie-Company-Without-Funds-ebo...
on “How to Get Free Labor for Your Startup” ↗It may seem cheesy and somewhat simplistic at first, but after you get over the cutesy anecdotes and jokes, the book/method "Slicing Pie" by Mike Moyer has been a very helpful resource for me during several very early-stage bootstrappings. It really helped contextualize the different types of contributions co-founders and early employees…
on “Ask HN: How should we split up equity?” ↗Mike Moyer wrote a book called "Slicing Pie" that gives a much better model than a 50/50 split for this situation.
on “Ask HN: How should we split up equity?” ↗…It takes years to become good enough to do that successfully. Instead, learn how to hire and manage developers, especially overseas developers on upwork.com (formerly odesk), how to share equity (read Slicing Pie book) and most of all how to design the user experience, and market yourself to investors (create an online portal for investors that works on mobile and desktop browsers.) Use invisionapp or something…
on “Tell HN: Hello” ↗…founders are more free to pursue it's goals. Mike outlines simple process of dividing equity in early stage startups. Covers a lot of scenarios. I found it very interesting read. From the description: "Slicing Pie outlines a simple process to get your business started even if you don’t have a lot of cash. In the early days you can use equity to get the things you need to start your company including help, equipment,…
on “Slicing Pie: Fund Your Company Without Funds” ↗…book's nutshell answer. Because of my history, the article resonated with me, and I downloaded the sample on my iPhone Kindle App. After reading the sample, my bell rang, and I not only had to read the Slicing Pie book, I had to read it TONIGHT! I bought the full book and hunkered down on my mission to read it start to finish.
on “Don't Make Startup Equity Mistakes” ↗…broke apart due to founder disagreement. You can bet a large part of that was due to equity distribution issues. Equity issues can get really messy - and easily damage friendships. Read the reviews for Slicing Pie. It's about maintaining a dynamic model that eventually vest into shares (if the company works out). I read it. It's great quick read. Ideal for your situation, I think. And it may preserve your friendship.…
on “Ask HN: How to split equity?” ↗…it goes. Another thing to do in all cases is to discuss downside/failure scenarios right up-front, and see if there's a sense of openness and fairness. Check out the books The Founder's Dilemmas and Slicing Pie for structuring the conversations, as they give vital ideas and precedents around formalizing the founders' relationships. It's much easier to chat about failure and equity before real work starts, and…
on “Ask HN: What are your criteria for selecting cofounders?” ↗…get them listed on an exchange or sell them Use the money to build the stuff Also pay people in the tokens themselves The latter thing can be done legally with equity in the USA. Look up the book “Slicing Pie” My #1 advice to first time entrepreneurs is DONT BE AFRAID TO DILUTE YOUR EQUITY ENOUGH TO GET THE BEST PEOPLE ON BOARD AND MOTIVATED TO TAKE INITIATIVE EVERY DAY/WEEK TO HELP YOU.
on “Ask HN: How Would You Fund-Raise for your Startup without vast personal network?” ↗So invent your own currency (use Ethereum or intercoin.org) and pay w that. Slicing Pie is a good book for this But not everyone will agree to work for it, for others you will need cold hard cash. And stock investors are all around, I am talking to them, they want to take $ out of the stock…
on “Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy (2008)” ↗