Coming soon · Book Profile
Slicing Pie Moyer
A practical guide to fairly dividing startup equity while a company is still being built, using a dynamic split called a Grunt Fund that allocates ownership based on the relative value of each contributor's ongoing inputs.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Slicing Pie tackles the single most relationship-destroying question in any startup: 'how much equity does each of us get?' Mike Moyer argues that the two conventional approaches—splitting equity before the company has value or fighting over it after value is created—both inevitably burn people and kill companies. His solution, the Grunt Fund, treats equity ('pie') as a Promise to Issue Equity that is allocated dynamically based on the relative theoretical value of each person's contributions (time, cash, ideas, relationships, facilities, supplies) as they happen. Because startup equity has no real value during the 'Gap' between idea and funding, only relative value can be measured fairly. With clear formulas (like the Grunt Hourly Resource Rate and cash-times-four multiplier), rules for adding and subtracting participants, and worked case studies, the book gives founders a fair, flexible, trust-based framework that keeps teams intact, motivated, and ready to try again—win or lose.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- An early-stage founder or Grunt who wants to build a company from almost nothing and reward everyone fairly for their contributions.
- The problem
- The founder has no money and must use equity to attract and compensate people, but has no fair way to divide it. They feel anxious, awkward, and afraid that the 'how much do we each get' conversation will breed resentment and destroy relationships.
- The plan
- Appoint a single Grunt leader to manage the fund.
- Assign a fair, consistent theoretical relative value to each contribution (time, cash, ideas, relationships, facilities, equipment).
- Track everyone's inputs continuously and calculate each Grunt's percentage as their contribution divided by the total base value.
- Apply clear rules when adding or removing participants so everyone is treated fairly.
- Freeze the fund and formalize equity when the company builds real value or receives significant (~$1M) investment.
- The payoff
- Everyone feels fairly valued, trust and morale stay high, and the team stays intact. · Equity flexibly reflects real contributions without painful renegotiations. · Even if the company fails, the team parts on good terms and jumps back in to try again together.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- IRS and SEC Legal Code (via Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute) · U.S. Government
Provides the primary source for the specific rules governing equity compensation discussed in the book, such as IRC Section 83(b), Section 422 (for ISOs), Section 409A, and SEC Rule 701.
- VentureHacks.com · Nivi and Naval
Cited as a source of 'good advice for startups,' specifically for providing benchmarks on appropriate equity grants for advisors.
- AngelList (angel.co/salaries) · AngelList
Mentioned as a key resource for both founders and employees to research and benchmark typical salary and equity data for various startup roles, ensuring offers are competitive.
- The Open Guide to Equity Compensation · GitHub community (jlevy)
Listed in the end notes as a resource, suggesting it provides more in-depth or community-driven information on the topic.
- Clerky.com · Clerky
Referenced as a provider of streamlined legal documents for startups, including a set of stock plan forms developed in collaboration with Y Combinator and Orrick.
- Crunchbase.com · Crunchbase
Listed in the end notes as a platform for finding business information about private and public companies, useful for general research.
- Founder’s Pocket Guide: Startup Valuation · 1x1 Media (implied)
Expands on a core topic of the cap table guide, covering various valuation methods for arriving at a defensible pre-money valuation.
- Founder’s Pocket Guide: Convertible Debt · 1x1 Media (implied)
Provides details on convertible debt, a funding structure mentioned as a key item to be tracked on a cap table before it converts to equity.
- Founder’s Pocket Guide: Terms Sheets and Preferred Shares · 1x1 Media (implied)
Details the rights, preferences, and protections of preferred shares, which are critical for accurately modeling exit scenarios in more sophisticated cap tables.
- Founder’s Pocket Guide: Stock Options and Vesting · 1x1 Media (implied)
Explains how to structure and track stock options and vesting, which are managed within the option pool recorded on the cap table.