Equity Wars: How to Split Ownership, Share Control, and Still Stay Friends
Equity Wars
How to Split Ownership, Share Control, and Still Stay Friends
by Louisa Alyssa
Equity is the first big decision every founder makes—and often the one that destroys the company before it even starts.
Equity Wars is the no-fluff, plain-English survival guide to one of the most emotionally charged and financially dangerous conversations in business: who gets what, and why. Whether you're two friends starting a scrappy startup, a solo founder bringing on help, or a fast-scaling team staring down investor term sheets, this book shows you how to split ownership without splitting up.
Inside, you'll find:
- The Fair Share Formula: a clear framework for deciding who deserves what
- Role-based equity breakdowns (no table required)
- Vesting strategies, dilution planning, and exit scenario walkthroughs
- How to fix bad splits without blowing up your friendships
- Cultural, international, and psychological landmines to avoid
- Real-life (and anonymized) postmortems of companies destroyed by equity fights
More than just legal tips, Equity Wars dives into the human side of ownership—trust, fear, fairness, and ego. Because equity isn’t just math. It’s a relationship test.
Whether you’re at day one or year three, this book will help you make equity decisions that stand the test of growth, money, and time.
