THE PLAN: Finance & Incentives
Compensation, risk/reward alignment, exit paths, vesting, equity distribution, and fundraising strategy.
Equity Structure
Philosophy: Reward Staying, Not Just Arriving
Equity rewards commitment to build, not just being early. The goal:
- Incentivize people to stay and perform
- Allow graceful exits without punishment
- Create wealth for those who build the company
- Protect against mercenary behavior
Cap Table Evolution
| Round | Manfred | Early Pool | Performance Pool | Investors | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formation | 85% | 10% | 5% | 0% | 100% |
| Pre-seed (€2M) | 70% | 8% | 4% | 18% | 100% |
| Seed (€10M) | 60% | 7% | 3% | 30% | 100% |
| Series A (€25M) | 50% | 6% | 4% | 40% | 100% |
| Series B (€50M) | 45% | 5% | 5% | 45% | 100% |
Equity Pool Structure
Early Team Pool (5-10% total):
- Purpose: Modest reward for early risk-taking
- Size: Intentionally small to avoid “lucky early” syndrome
- Allocation: 0.5-2% per person based on timing and risk
- Vesting: 4 years, 1-year cliff, monthly
Performance Pool (3-5% total):
- Purpose: Reward ongoing contribution and excellence
- Available to: Everyone except CEO (early + new team)
- Allocation: Based on performance reviews and impact
- Refresh: Annual grants for top performers
- Vesting: 4 years, 1-year cliff, monthly
CEO Constraints:
- Same 4-year vesting minimum as everyone else
- Same 1-year cliff
- No access to performance pool
- Share usage committed to ecosystem investment
Early Team Packages
Risk-Based Options:
Maximum Risk/Reward:
- Salary: €65-90k (50% of target)
- Early equity: 1.5-2%
- Performance eligible: Yes
- Vesting: 4 years, 1-year cliff
Balanced Risk/Reward:
- Salary: €100-135k (75% of target)
- Early equity: 0.8-1.2%
- Performance eligible: Yes
- Vesting: 4 years, 1-year cliff
Low Risk/Reward:
- Salary: €130-180k (market rate)
- Early equity: 0.3-0.5%
- Performance eligible: Yes
- Vesting: 4 years, 1-year cliff
Vesting Philosophy: Stay to Build
Universal Rules
- Everyone vests - No free equity, ever
- Monthly vesting - Smooth progression, no cliffs after year 1
- 1-year cliff - Universal, including CEO
- 4-year minimum - May extend to 5-6 years for key roles
- Performance refreshers - Annual grants for excellence
CEO Vesting Constraints
Same Rules as Everyone:
- 4-year vesting minimum
- 1-year cliff
- Monthly vesting post-cliff
- No acceleration advantages
- No performance pool access
Share Usage Commitment:
- Standard living expenses only
- Excess wealth invested in ecosystem
- Goal: Make everyone rich, not maximize personal wealth
- Focus on building, not extracting
Graceful Exit Policies
Incentivize Honest Exits:
- No shame in leaving
- Extended exercise windows (2 years)
- Partial acceleration for key contributors
- “Boomerang” bonuses for returns
Incentivize Staying:
- Performance pool access
- Milestone bonuses
- Equity refreshers
- Increasing responsibility and ownership
Life-Friendly Policies:
- Vesting pause for sabbaticals
- Family emergency provisions
- Flexible work arrangements
- Mental health support
Compensation Framework
Salary Evolution Strategy
Target Philosophy: Top-tier compensation to attract and retain the best builders.
Phase 1 (Pre-funding):
- €0-50k based on personal situation
- Heavy equity compensation
Phase 2 (Seed funded):
- Senior Engineers: €130-180k (current team range)
- Design/Product: €120-160k
- Operations: €100-140k
Phase 3 (Series A funded):
- Standard Engineers: €180-220k
- Senior Engineers: €200-250k
- Staff/Principal: €250-300k
- Top performers: Up to €300k
Phase 4 (Series B+ funded):
- Market-leading compensation
- Performance-based bonuses
- Equity refreshers for retention
- Global talent competition rates
Token Allocation
Separate from equity:
- 20% of tokens for team/contributors
- Rewards ongoing participation
- Different vesting schedule
- Usage-based bonuses
Exit Strategy
Liquidity Events
- Secondary sales (Year 2+)
- Token liquidity (At mainnet)
- IPO (Year 5-7)
- M&A (Only if strategic)
Protecting Early Team
- Tag-along rights
- Acceleration clauses
- Anti-dilution provisions
- Board representation
Fundraising Strategy
The VC Trap
What VCs Often Push:
- “Hire more salespeople” (even when product isn’t ready)
- “Focus on revenue” (killing long-term vision)
- “Copy competitor X” (destroying differentiation)
- “Play it safe” (avoiding necessary risks)
- “Quick exit” (flipping instead of building)
What Actually Builds Great Companies:
- Taking massive technical risks
- Saying no to easy money
- Building for 10 years, not 2
- Choosing vision over revenue
- Accepting temporary losses for permanent gains
Funding Approach
Round Structure with Dilution Protection:
| Round | Amount | Valuation | Dilution | Investor % | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | €2M | €10M | 18% | 18% | SAFE, 1x liquidation |
| Seed | €8M | €32M | 12% | 30% total | Series Seed, 1x |
| Series A | €25M | €125M | 10% | 40% total | Standard VC, 1x |
| Series B | €50M | €500M | 5% | 45% total | Growth equity |
Protection Mechanisms:
- Maintain board control through Series B
- Anti-dilution for team pools
- Pro-rata rights for early investors
- No liquidation preferences above 1x
- Dual-class shares if needed
- Founder-friendly board composition
Risk/Reward Alignment
CEO Commitment & Constraints
What I’m Putting In:
- Entire reputation and next 10+ years
- Same vesting constraints as everyone
- Personal financial investment
- Commitment to ecosystem wealth creation
- Standard living, not wealth extraction
Share Usage Philosophy:
- Use control for company protection
- Invest excess wealth in ecosystem
- Focus on making team wealthy
- Standard CEO lifestyle, not luxury
- Long-term building, not exit optimization
What I Ask From You:
- Commitment to excellence and staying
- Honest feedback about performance
- Full effort during your time here
- Graceful exit if needed
- Trust in long-term vision
What We Build Together:
- Sustainable wealth for builders
- Technology with generational impact
- Company we’re proud to have built
- Ecosystem that outlasts any individual
Financial Milestones
Year 1 Targets
- €2M pre-seed raised (18% dilution)
- Early team pool allocated (10%)
- Performance pool framework established
- Legal structure and vesting complete
Year 2 Targets
- €8M seed round (12% additional dilution)
- Performance pool first grants
- Token economy launched
- Team retention > 90%
Year 3-5 Targets
- €25M Series A (10% dilution)
- Performance pool refreshers
- Secondary market liquidity
- Ecosystem investment program launched
Lessons From Experience
What I Learned
From my conversations with Zooma, Antoine, and Corentin:
- The ideal scenario is when one person controls the capital strategy
- Post-IPO, successful founders often still hold 50%+ (Zuckerberg, Bezos)
- Split equity (20% each to 5 people) creates inevitable conflicts
- “Skin in the game” is what matters - not titles
Key Principles
- Reward staying, not just arriving - performance pool > early pool
- Monthly vesting with 1-year cliff - universal rule, including CEO
- Graceful exits encouraged - no golden handcuffs
- Founder control for protection - ecosystem investment, not extraction
- Life-first policies - sustainable building over grinding
- Performance rewards - ongoing excellence beats early timing
The Commitment
My ask: Trust me to be captain. Help me navigate. Share in the treasure.
This isn’t about me having power. It’s about having clarity, speed, and alignment in our financial structure so we can build something extraordinary together.
Community & Ecosystem Budget Allocation
Annual Investment Framework
Year 1-2 (Seed Stage):
- Hackathons: €100-200k
- Incubator: €200-400k
- Hackers in Residence: €150-300k
- DevRel salaries: €300-500k
Year 3-5 (Growth Stage):
- Hackathons: €500k-1M
- Incubator: €1-2M
- Hackers in Residence: €500k-1M
- DevRel team: €1-3M
Success Metrics
Community Growth:
- Active developers building real products
- Diversity of use cases and industries
- Community-driven innovation rate
- External company adoption
Technical Adoption:
- Production deployments
- Transaction volume and network usage
- Developer retention and satisfaction
- Quality of community contributions