How to Split Equity with Co-Founders

In recent months, I've fielded several calls from Dukies on the subject of "How to Split Equity with Co-Founders".IMHO, there is no "right answer" but the discussion can reveal a lot about your co-founders and, sometimes, your investors. Each of you should start by creating a summary of what you bring to the company including cash, IP including code, prototypes, patents or other fully developed ideas, and other critical knowledge or experience, relationships with customers & markets, relationships with investors and advisors, relevant experience, long hours invested to date, demonstrated leadership skills and so on.Keep in mind that co-founding is a long term relationship and this challenging topic is just one of the first of an endless series of shared decisions you'll encounter together. You may even discover in the course of the equity conversation that one of you is incompatible with the perspectives of the others which, while a painful realization, is better for everyone in the long-run. There are lots of startups but you only have one life.Here's some reading that will help you be prepared and you can use to get the conversation started with your co-founders from a position of knowledge:How to Split Equity Among Co-Founders By Michael Seibel
Argues "split evenly or you have the wrong co-founders"
https://blog.ycombinator.com/splitting-equity-among-founders/How to Split Co-Founder Equity Fairly by Bryant Galindo
https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-split-co-founder-equity-fairly-5dbb416df63eFounders Institute Equity Calculator
http://foundrs.comHow to Split Equity with Co-Founders
https://fi.co/insight/how-to-split-equity-with-cofoundersHBR - The Very First Mistake Most Startup Founders Make by Noam Wasserman Thomas Hellmann
https://hbr.org/2016/02/the-very-first-mistake-most-startup-founders-makeEquity Split: How to Distribute Founder/Employee Stock by a startup-focused law firm
https://www.upcounsel.com/equity-split