How are the shares in the project divided?

Question

PHP

Goodnight!
Gentlemen, share your experience, because we get either a startup, or not a startup, or an unknown little animal.
The point is this. About three months ago, I (then a freelancer in PHP) got a customer who wanted a grandiose project, but was rather short on funds. I agreed to work not very expensive, gradually we worked with him, he paid me for certain stages, I did it for him. I didn’t make much money on this, but most of the work was paid. Now more or less the result has already emerged, and then I got some kind of enthusiasm for all this, I wanted to partially complete / redo this project myself, improve the design and functionality and launch it. We talked to the man and decided to share the shares.
I want to ask. How, in this case, is the skin divided in practice, so that it makes sense for both me and the customer (in case the project succeeds)? How can we pay for the services of a designer and other specialists, so that now we can bring all this to mind - a pool of money, or, for example, he pays for other specialists, and I invest as a programmer? In general, prompt pliz typical practice for such cases. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

There is no typical practice, here you can agree.
If you are sawing shares, be prepared and bear the risks in the amount of this share.

Answer 2

The main question you need to answer right now is - do you imagine at what point in the future this project will reach operating profit, and will it happen at all? If this does not happen in the foreseeable future (say, in the next year), your share will be a fraction of zero, sad but true. I never took shares from zeros, although there were enough people who wanted to persuade me to do this. It is better to take money.

Answer 3

in case the project fails

and
saw a prototype and a business strategy (for the time being without a designer, or look through friends or stock exchanges) and look for an investor who would provide you with money to continue development (also for a percentage). Still, more money is needed for "shot" than for development. And not sickly so much more. By themselves, the projects don’t shoot anymore, it should be an awesome cool idea so that everything gets viral, but if so, then it won’t be a problem to find an investor.
And as for the percentage ... you need to think. The investor will most likely ask from 25% to 75%, it depends on the project and potential profit. The math is very simple, having the expected profit and the timing of its receipt, you take the money that you invest in the project (time = money, just calculate your opportunity cost), figure out how much it would be if you just put this money at interest in the bank and figure out how much You need this amount to cover your expenses. But do not forget that there may not be money or it may be less than expected.

Answer 4

There are no accepted rules in this case. Everyone agrees, starting from the initial data. First you need to decide on the most key points.
1) Do you want to be a co-owner of a business (service, product) or a partner who will receive a percentage of profits in the future? If you are a co-owner, then in principle you cannot sit on a salary and must bear the risks. If a partner, then your share will definitely not exceed 20-30% (although this is a lot).
In the second case, you essentially remain a hired worker, but privileged. In this scenario, you do not risk anything, so whether this option suits you or not depends on ambition and faith in the project.
2) What does the "customer" do in the project? You write code. Next are going to hire designers and other specialists. What does the "customer" do? Is he giving orders? If so, then this is a bad alignment. In fact, you have a startup, so everyone should be an integral part of the project and give their best. Think about this moment. If during the development of the project a situation arises when someone does not really do anything, this is fraught with serious conflicts.

Answer 5

if a person received a share, then he must contribute loot to pay for the same designer in proportion to his share, otherwise, when depositing money into the company, his share can be diluted.

Answer 6

Assess each participant's contribution in money and/or time to date, and divide the shares proportionally to the contribution

Answer 7

customer's idea means at least 50/50

Answer 8

Considering that you were just doing a project, and your work was also paid for, and the idea was not yours, and there was no agreement on any shares from the beginning ... I would not give more than 20% if I were the customer. You can always find another artist.

Answer 9

If you share, then your partner is not obliged to pay you anything, since you bear the costs together. You can agree on compensation for some damage (time spent) when there is a profit.