Hey everyone. I’m hoping I’m in the right sub to ask these questions… I will try to describe the business with as much description as necessary to give you all an idea of my circumstances without revealing too much identifiable information.
Over the last year and half a childhood friend of mine has embarked on a mission of launching a business with a line of products in a relatively saturated market, however they have teamed up with well respected scientists to improve upon what is already currently in the market. The line of products which they are offering have been tested in an FDA approved lab and outperform the product offerings of the top competitors in the market.
Everything on the logistics side from manufacturing, to bottling and shipping have been secured, the current challenge that they are undergoing is marketing. They have product ready to go and have already begun the process of securing several retailers that would be interested in carry the products, but they would ultimately like to generate the majority of revenue from online sales. As someone with a relatively strong background in digital advertising and some experience in Ecom too, this friend of my has reach out of several occasions for consultation on how best to bring the product to market. Up to this point it has strictly been friendly advice with no money exchanged for my time and services, however on the last call we had they made it clear to me that they were interested in bringing me into the fold to help with the launch.
Currently I am working full time for another start up which I have been apart of since the beginning (4+ years). The business is growing rapidly, I have been given equity in the company and intend to see my position through until the point of sale which is the end goal for my current job.
My friend is aware that I have no intention of leaving my current position and basically asked if they think I would be interested in doing this on the side/ helping to build out a team of people to aid in the advertising/marketing.
With the world being so crazy I like the idea of generating an additional stream of income and diversifying my employment risk. My current startup job is pretty stable and I don’t foresee any immediate chance of catastrophe, but anything is possible.
My question is, how should I go about negotiating payment for my involvement? During one of our previous discussions my friend sort of hinted at the idea of offering a stake in the company, this is something I don’t have a lot of knowledge about, my current employer set up an equity program through an attorney but this is slightly different.
What do you all think would be a reasonable ask for part ownership/ and or salary. Also, if I were to accept part ownership would I be responsible for paying taxes if I wouldn’t be drawing from revenue? I don’t think they are asking for me to buy into the company with my own money and seem to have enough personal funding to launch independently. Let me know your thoughts.
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