Description:

Sharing Equity with Co-Founders, Employees, and Service Providers
Understand how early decisions shape your company’s future.

When launching a startup, how you structure equity can have lasting consequences for your ownership, team dynamics, and investor relationships. This session will break down the essential considerations and common pitfalls founders face when dividing ownership stakes and granting equity to others.

Key topics include:
- Paths to Formation: Learn how founder-formed vs. investor-formed startups impact long-term equity ownership.
- Co-Founder Equity Splits: Explore factors that influence fair allocations, vesting schedules, and how to avoid future conflicts.
- Equity for Employees & Service Providers: Understand the difference between restricted stock and options, key tax implications, and how to determine appropriate vesting structures and equity amounts.
 
Whether you’re building your founding team, hiring your first employee, or engaging service providers, this session will help you make informed decisions that align with your company’s growth and values.

About the Speakers

Jay Reilly
Partner, Foley Hoag LLP

Jay Reilly is a seasoned transactional and corporate advisor with deep experience serving clients across the life sciences and high-tech industries. He represents biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies—as well as universities and nonprofits—in complex strategic transactions, licensing and collaboration agreements, venture financing and mergers and acquisitions. His work spans both domestic and international markets.

Jay regularly advises C-suite executives, boards of directors, and general counsels on governance, fiduciary duties, risk mitigation, and enterprise-wide legal strategy. He frequently serves as a trusted senior advisor to leadership teams and as outside general counsel to companies with lean in-house legal departments.

Sarah Nyaeme
Associate, Foley Hoag LLP

Sarah Nyaeme focuses on advising public and private companies on a wide range of corporate matters. Sarah has a broad range of experience within the corporate department which includes facilitating formation and financing of early-stage companies, sale and buy-side mergers and acquisitions of public and private companies, reviewing agreements for clients pursing licensing and strategic alliances, and assisting with general corporate governance matters.