A founders agreement template is the document two or three people sign before the company is worth arguing over, and the reason to sign it then is that later it will be. It settles the equity split and how it is earned, who does what, how decisions are made, what happens when a founder leaves, and who owns the work already done. A vesting agreement is the clause that earns the equity over time rather than granting it at once, and it is the part a future investor agreement template will insist on if the founders did not. This page walks the founders agreement from the equity up, works the split as figures with the free partnership worksheet on this site, and says what changes when investment arrives.
The split, and how it is earned
Equity is split by contribution: capital, time, the idea, the network, and the agreement says the shares and the reason. Three founders putting in $60,000, $30,000 and $10,000 hold 60%, 30% and 10% on the worked example on this site, and a founder contributing time rather than cash is given a share the others agree is worth it. Vesting earns the share over a period, commonly with a cliff before any vests and monthly or quarterly vesting after, so a founder who leaves in month four leaves with what has vested and not with a quarter of the company. The vesting agreement states the period, the cliff, the schedule and what accelerates it.
Roles, decisions and leaving
Roles say who runs what and whether founders are paid; decisions say which need a majority and which need everyone, spending above a figure, hiring, taking investment, selling. Leaving is the clause that pays for the whole document: what happens to unvested equity, whether the company can buy back vested equity and at what price, and the non-solicitation the leaver accepts. Intellectual property is assigned to the company by every founder for work done before and after signing, or the company does not own its product.
When the investor agreement arrives
An investor agreement template adds a new party and new terms: the investment amount and the valuation, so the founders' shares dilute; the investor's rights, information, a board seat, consent over listed decisions; and the protective terms, pre-emption, tag and drag along, and a liquidation preference. Founders who already have vesting, assigned IP and a decisions clause negotiate from their own document instead of the investor's. The partnership worksheet on this site works the shares and a buyout at a valuation; Termslane Pro keeps the founders agreement, the vesting schedule and the investor agreement against the record with their versions.
Questions people ask about founders agreement template
What should a founders agreement include?
The equity split and its reasoning, vesting with a cliff and a schedule, roles and pay, which decisions need a majority and which need all, what happens when a founder leaves, and the assignment of intellectual property to the company.
What is a vesting agreement?
The clause or document under which a founder's equity is earned over time, typically with a cliff before any vests and periodic vesting after, so a founder who leaves early keeps only what has vested.
What does an investor agreement change for the founders?
Their shares dilute at the investment's valuation, the investor gains information and consent rights and often a board seat, and protective terms such as pre-emption, tag and drag along and a liquidation preference are added.