Comment by jrlee

As someone who had a co-founder exit 3 years into our 8-year journey, here's my take: keeping your full 10% might actually hurt everyone involved, including you.

Think about it from the new investors' perspective. They see a former founder holding 10% who left because they didn't believe in the new direction. That's a red flag. They'll either demand you reduce it significantly or they might just pass on the deal entirely. I've seen this kill funding rounds.

More importantly, it can destroy motivation for the team staying behind. They're busting their ass on the pivot while someone who checked out still owns 10%? That breeds resentment fast.

My suggestion: voluntarily reduce your equity to something like 2-3%. Shows good faith, removes the investor concern, and keeps the team motivated. In exchange, ask for a reasonable cash package - especially if you've been working unpaid or below market for months. That's just settling up what's owed, not "taking money from the company."

When my co-founder left, he went from 26% to 3%. Seemed harsh at the time, but it let us move forward clean. We raised our next round 3 months later partly because investors saw we handled the transition professionally.

The cash part really depends on your financial sacrifice. If you've been unpaid for 6 months while getting the company to this point, then yeah, getting compensated for that makes sense. It's not about "exit package" - it's about getting paid for work already done.