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
First Cheque with Cheryl Mack & Maxine Minter · 31 August 2026
Trust Over Likability: How Charles Hudson Built a 450-Company Portfolio
Pick My Brain with Alan Jones · 26 August 2026
The Buzzword That's Killing Your Pitch: Billy Chan on Alfred Travel
Oversubscribed with Brendan Hill · 20 August 2026
Building with Atoms and Bits: 5 Founders Making Hard Tech in Australia | HEO, Alloy, Vexev, Zabidou, Antares
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 we helped build Blackbird Ventures' Wild Hearts. We turn podcasts into trust, authority and pipeline.