This Week in Startups · Thursday, September 10, 2026
Becki DeGraw explains founder vesting as a mechanism to ensure founders remain committed to their startup, especially when seeking venture capital. Vesting means shares are granted over time, and if a founder leaves before they are fully vested, the company can repurchase the unvested portion, typically at a low cost.
“As a founder, you buy your shares, you own your shares on day one. You get all the voting rights associated with the shares. But, investors want to know that you're going to stay with the company. So we put a vesting schedule on those shares so that they vest over time.”
“If you were to leave the company before the shares are vested, the company has a right to repurchase the unvested portion of the shares. And usually it's at the lower of whatever the original cost was that you bought those shares at, or the current fair market value.”
“These are what we call the golden handcuffs, right? For the, uh, of founders. And it makes sense, right?”