Startup #3 How to Divide an Imaginary Pie

Pitching a business and suffering mood disorder is the about same. You are trying to convince someone that they should give you millions for this ambiguous thing that only you can see in the future.    Convincing other is hard, but convincing yourself is harder.  Blumberg was starting to get second thoughts about his business.  His wife was trying to be encourage him, knowing it is a lot to handle with a family of four to take care of. She suggested he needed a business partner.  This idea was reinforced when Blumberg decided to pitch to a potential investor. The Investor said that he thinks startups are a team sport, and he would be more ready to invest if there was more than one person with skin in the game.  However, finding partners are so hard that ther is even a website called Founderdating.com.  Matt Lieber was someone he shared his business idea with casually.  Lieber showed great interest in the business.  He would be a great business partner because he is a consultant at a big firm.  Lieber start helping Blumberg the business, sending him emails at late hours without being asked.  Startups are like relationships, and Blumberg finally popped the question.  Before Lieber said yes, he asked about about equity.  It was a weird conversation. Lieber was thinking 47%  to 50%, and Blumberg was told by others 12%     His main concern is he didn't want to be seen as a sucker who gave all his company away. But he knew Lieber would have to leave his job and sacrifice a lot as well.   Blumberg learned that there was no right way to split equity.  It was important to make sure everything is fair for everyone. In the end, they decided to split it 60-40.