Vesting is the process by which a stock grant, or a stock option grant, is allocated to the founder or employee over time. For example, as a cofounder, after making decisions about the founder equity split, you are going to receive 500,000 founder shares. These shares should almost never be granted outright, but should be vested over time. A common vesting schedule looks like this:
This means if you leave the startup before the year is out, you get no stock. If you leave exactly at the one month mark, you will get 25% of your founder shares. Thereafter, a proportionate amount of the remainder of your stock every month, until four years are up, by which time you will have received all of your founder shares.
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