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Working for Shares

I’ve been offered shares in a start up company in return for web development. The company have sent me their business plan and the presentation they use for getting grants and funding from various enterprise boards and it all looks pretty steady. I’d say they will make a profit from their idea eventually but there is always the chance that it’ll fail.

What I was wondering is if any of you have worked for someone in a similar way and if so was the risk worthwhile?

 

Discussion (10)

 
 

Totally depends on the guys behind it. I work with a few guys on a web startup, we all have shares and make a good profit.

Our situation might be different, it is more of a business than “start-up” so we are focusing on revenue early and not really planning to sell, our efforts are more financially tangible.

As a web developer, everyone you know has an idea for a website. Whenever I meet someone new, they tell me about this idea and how great it is. Then comes the “Hey, if you build it…”. Thats where there is usually a big no.

 

Like most things in life: it depends.

A few things to be cautious of:

- A lot of startups when they incorporate create shares of the company to pass out to early employers, etc. You want to be careful not to let the number of shares they’re offering mask the true value. So if they create 10 million shares to hand out to employees that 10 million may be tied to only 10% of the company. Then they say “hey, we’d like to offer you 1 million shares of the company.” This sounds good but it’s only 1% of the company. Not a fair deal for the risk you’re incurring.

- I would specify a certain threshold on which you start receiving dividends. So something to the effect of “when monthly revenues reach $1000 I receive X amount of it, at $5000 Y amount, etc.”

And remember that business plans, projections, etc. are always more optimistic than real life.

Finally, you’re the one incurring the risk so stack the return in your favor.

 
 

They’re going to pay me for a short project starting soon but they want to have a developer on board for the long term. Apparently they’ve been advised that grants boards will be more likely to give them money if they have some tech people.

I took the weekend to think about it and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to take them up on it. I’m already invested in a few other things and I don’t think I can guarantee them how much time I’ll have for working on their project. It’s not very motivational getting paid only once per year.

 

Without knowing more about the project or the people behind it, my advise would be to run away. Fast.

This sounds like classic client carrot dangling, other variations include:

“If you do this project for free, there will be more paid work coming your way in the future”

“We’ll pay you when we make a profit”

I’m sure there are cases when web developers have come ahead in front from such arrangements, but don’t get sucked in by the allure of a “startup”. A startup is just a small business, and most small businesses fail.

Anyone who is serious about a business should expect to pay their suppliers, or at least provide an equivalent value service/product in exchange for their time. If a web startup hasn’t budgeted to pay a web developer, I would suggest that they haven’t planned very well, which doesn’t bode well for their future.

If in doubt, use this chart to help decide if you should work for free:

http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/

You’ll notice that if a business tells you they are a startup, the answer is an instant NO.

 
 
 
 

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