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Co-founder Risk Analyzer: Equity Split, Vesting & Founder Conflict Checklist

Most early startup failures involve co-founder conflict. List the founders with equity, commitment and tenure, answer eight agreement questions and get a risk score with the exact issues investors will raise and how to fix them.

QUICK ANSWERThe biggest co-founder risks are no written agreement, no vesting, IP held personally, no leaver terms, a 50/50 split with no deadlock rule, part-time founders with large stakes and more than ~10% dead equity. A founders’ agreement with 4-year reverse vesting, IP assignment, roles and leaver terms fixes most of them.

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⚠️ Self-assessment only. Not legal advice.

What the Co-founder Risk Analyzer & Conflict Checklist does

✅ Risk score out of 100
✅ Equity imbalance and 50/50 deadlock check
✅ Part-time founder and dead equity flags
✅ Founder agreement checklist
✅ Fix list for each issue

How to use the Co-founder Risk Analyzer & Conflict Checklist

STEP 1
Enter your numbers
Type the figures you know. Every field starts with a realistic example so you can see how it works.
STEP 2
Read the result instantly
Results, tables and the plain-English explanation update as you type. No submit button, no login.
STEP 3
Test scenarios
Change one assumption at a time (valuation, growth, dilution, exit) to see what really moves the outcome.
STEP 4
Share or save
Copy the summary, send it on WhatsApp or print to PDF for your co-founders, board or investment committee.

Prevent co-founder conflict before it starts

Conflicts usually start with mismatched expectations about effort, roles, salary or what happens if someone leaves. Writing these down early, while relationships are good, is far easier than negotiating them during a dispute.

Investors check founder agreements in diligence. Missing vesting or IP assignment is common at pre-seed but becomes a closing condition at seed or Series A, so fixing it early speeds up your round.

Frequently asked questions

What should a co-founder agreement include?

Equity split, vesting (usually 4 years with a 1-year cliff), roles and decision rights, IP assignment, salaries, time commitment, leaver terms and buy-back price, deadlock resolution, confidentiality, non-compete and non-solicit.

Is a 50/50 equity split bad?

Not by itself, but with two founders it needs a deadlock mechanism (for example a casting vote for the CEO, an independent tie-breaker or a buy-sell clause).

What is dead equity?

Shares held by people who no longer contribute, such as a co-founder who left without vesting. Large dead equity makes it harder to motivate the active team and to raise money.

Is this tool free? Do I need to sign up?

Yes. It is completely free, needs no login and has no usage limit. FastFee builds payment collection software; these startup and investor tools are free resources for founders, angels and fund managers.

Is my data private?

Yes. Everything you type stays in your own browser on this device (local storage). Nothing is uploaded to FastFee. Export or print a copy if you need to keep it.

Use it together with

Founder Vesting Calculator →Vesting schedule with cliff and frequency, vested equity on any date and acceleration terms.Founder Scorecard →Weighted 1–5 founder assessment across 6 traits with notes and side-by-side ranking.

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