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Might it be cynical to think that calling someone a co-founder after the event is a way of getting them to work for nothing? Of course if the idea is a good one and the share allocation to the new recruits is substantial then maybe...

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You can pay someone nothing and give them more stock than the founders have, and it won't make them a co-founder. :-)

Conversely, you can pay someone a salary and give them less stock than they should really have as a cofounder, and they might still be a cofounder.

As you said, it's to do with the impact that the person has on the business from inception onwards.

So what do you call someone who joins a company before any salaried employees and has equity comparable to that of the founders?

If they don't have any input into the direction the company takes, I'd say that "fools" is a reasonable thing to call them.

Isn't that a separate issue? You can be part of a company from day one and not have any input into its direction, and maybe sometimes you can join late and have significant influence on future decisions.

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