"Let’s cofound a baby" and other phrases you should never speak

Good stuff. Just last week I had a young lady interview for a sales director position with my startup. We offered her shares in the company equivalent to 5% of total shares available, on a 4-year vesting schedule with a 1-year cliff.

She countered with 30%, no vesting schedule. I asked where she came up with that figure and she explained she felt that since we're still in the seed stage of development, she deserves an equal share as my partner and I. Translation: 30% was completely arbitrary. I politely thanked her and sent her on her way.

After doing some additional research, I realized the 5% was probably too generous for a person responsible for nothing more than networking, which is essentially what my partner and I should be doing ourselves anyway. Besides we can pay people commission for acquiring customers direct while retaining full ownership...which is key.