Founder vesting
Founders' own shares vesting over time, so a co-founder who leaves early doesn't walk with a huge stake.
Investors usually require it; agreeing it between co-founders before the company succeeds avoids the ugliest disputes.
Hear it from people who've done it
Get the real-world version of "Founder vesting" drawn from hundreds of conversations with founders and investors.
Ask the Network →Episodes on Fundraising
Pick My Brain with Alan Jones · 12 August 2026
How Do You Grow a Marketplace When Both Sides Are Slow? Ishan Dan on RegenX
Life After Launch with Megan Luttrell & Geo George · 28 July 2026
Dom Pym – The Little White Lie That Built a Bank for 1.4 Million Aussies
Founders in Motion with Thea Ngo · 23 July 2026
Impact Investing at $10: The Fortune He Lost, The Fund He Built | Arjun Agarwal, inaam
Vesting / cliff
Equity is earned over time (vesting); a cliff is an initial period you must pass before any of it is yours.
Cap table
The ledger of who owns what — every shareholder, their share class and their percentage.
Vesting acceleration
Unvested equity vesting early on an event — single trigger on acquisition, double trigger on acquisition plus being let go.
← Back to the full glossary
Want a show like this for your fund or company?
We're W2D1 Media — the team behind the Day One Network and Blackbird's Wild Hearts. We turn podcasts into trust, authority and pipeline.