Founder shares are issued on day one. They should not vest on day one.
An eight-page tool for Ontario co-founders deciding how founder shares vest, when they accelerate, and what happens if a co-founder leaves in Year One. Three negotiable terms, sample clause language, walk-away math, and five questions.
What is inside
- 01A signed note from Damaris.Why DRG built this checklist and how to use it before the first founder departure.
- 02What no vesting looks like.Five short omissions that let a Year-One walker keep their full equity and hold up future financings.
- 03What real vesting looks like.Four-year vesting with a one-year cliff, single and double-trigger acceleration. Five fixes called out.
- 04Three negotiable terms with sample clause language.Vesting schedule + cliff, acceleration triggers, departure handling. Each with a checklist and the exact phrasing to ask for.
- 05Cost-of-no-vesting math and five questions.Put a number on the worst case. Five questions to ask any lawyer reviewing the agreement.
Damaris will show it on the next page.
No charge. The checklist opens on screen as soon as you submit.
A founder who walks in Year One with their full equity takes what the company needs to recruit a replacement.
Equal share allocations, fully paid, not subject to repurchase. Full voting rights from day one. The standard founder agreement gives a co-founder who quits in month three the same equity as the one who builds for five years.
This checklist puts real vesting language in front of you. Four-year vesting with a one-year cliff is the founder standard for a reason. Acceleration triggers protect everyone in the Change of Control case. Departure rules turn a future crisis into a routine transaction.
Founder shares are issued on day one but should not vest on day one. A founder who walks in Year One with all their shares takes equity that the company needs to recruit a replacement. A founder who is fired or quits at the wrong moment can hold the company hostage. Vesting fixes both problems. This checklist puts the four vesting decisions in front of you with the actual mechanism, so you can decide now, not after the first founder leaves.
DRG Law Professional Corporation