FOUNDER-FIRST VENTURE CREATION
Build faster. Earn ownership early. Prove it over time.
Blockchain Lab brings venture design, product development and launch infrastructure. Founders earn 50% of their equity in year one, while our fixed 25% studio stake aligns us to build a company that can stand independently.
The 25/75 principle
We build the venture together. Blockchain Lab protects the infrastructure it contributes for four years. Founders earn a meaningful share in year one, then prove long-term leadership through the launch window.
Founder-led venture
- Studio25%
- Lead founder35%
- Co-founders15%
- Option pool15%
- Advisers5%
- Reserve5%
Studio-originated venture
Only when Blockchain Lab created the thesis and recruited the founder into it.
- Studio25%
- Lead founder30%
- Co-founders15%
- Option pool15%
- Advisers5%
- Reserve10%
Twenty-five percent is enough to keep the studio committed and not so much that the founder is an employee in someone else’s company. It is not an accelerator cut and it is not a silent advisory grant.
Why the first year vests faster
A standard four-year schedule makes a founder wait to own a company they are already building. This curve cliffs for three months, reaches half the grant at month 12, then slows. The slower half is the company-building test.
| Month | Cumulative vested | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0.0% | Issued, reverse vesting, none earned |
| 3 | 12.5% | Short cliff ends |
| 6 | 25.0% | Checkpoint |
| 9 | 37.5% | Checkpoint |
| 12 | 50.0% | Half the grant earned |
| 18 | 58.3% | Checkpoint |
| 24 | 66.7% | Checkpoint |
| 30 | 75.0% | Checkpoint |
| 36 | 83.3% | Checkpoint |
| 42 | 91.7% | Checkpoint |
| 48 | 100.0% | Fully vested |
Months 0–3 vest nothing. Month 3 vests 12.5%. Months 4–12 vest the rest of the first half. Months 13–48 vest the remaining half in equal monthly amounts. Shares are intended as restricted founder shares, or the local equivalent, with a company repurchase right over the unvested portion.
The protected contribution window
Months 12–24 stop a founder from taking the accelerated year and leaving the launch unfinished. Unvested shares are repurchased. A voluntary exit in this window also allows a call over part of the vested shares. The call declines to zero at month 24.
The fraction of vested shares that can be called is (24 − completed months) / 24. At month 12 that is half of what has vested, so the founder keeps 25% of the original grant — the acceleration premium is returned, the underlying year of work is not confiscated. A formula that divided by 12 would take the entire vested holding at month 12; the worked examples do not do that, and neither does this model.
| Exit | Vested | Callable share of vested | Retained, before good-leaver exceptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month 12 | 50.00% | 50.0% | 25.00% of the original grant |
| Month 15 | 54.17% | 37.5% | 33.85% of the original grant |
| Month 18 | 58.33% | 25.0% | 43.75% of the original grant |
| Month 21 | 62.50% | 12.5% | 54.69% of the original grant |
| Month 24 | 66.67% | 0.0% | 66.67% of the original grant |
Good leaver
Death, permanent disability, termination without cause, an uncured material breach by the company or the studio, or a separation the board and the independent director approve.
Unvested shares can be repurchased on the agreed terms. Vested shares stay. The special call is waived or reduced. Limited acceleration is possible. Confidentiality, IP and transfer rules remain.
Bad leaver
Narrow and evidenced: fraud, theft, wilful misconduct, fiduciary breach, abandonment, a real confidentiality or IP breach, competition in breach of an enforceable covenant, or repeated failure after notice and cure.
Unvested shares are repurchased. A call on vested shares must be lawful, priced as counsel requires, and approved by the independent director. There is no promise that vested shares can always be bought back for a nominal price.
How the 25% works with capital
For 48 months the studio’s 25% is held steady against internal dilution. External institutional money is different, or the company becomes unfinanceable. Public position: protected through the first 15% of new-money issuance. Above that, the studio dilutes with other holders or invests its pro rata. In a live negotiation the fallback is ordinary dilution on all external money, still with internal protection.
Before a round
- Studio25%
- Founders50%
- Option pool15%
- Advisers5%
- Reserve5%
15% new money, inside the cap
- Studio25%
- Founders40%
- Option pool12%
- Advisers4%
- Reserve4%
- New investors15%
Above the cap
- First 15%Borne by non-studio holders
- The restDilutes everyone, including the studio
- Related-party issuanceNeeds founder and independent approval
Show this page to investors before a round. A protected stake that appears for the first time in a term sheet is how trust dies.
Governance without studio control
Studio director
One seat, appointed by Blockchain Lab.
Founder director
One seat, appointed by the lead founder.
Independent director
Mutually agreed within six months. Required for leaver calls, related-party deals, pool increases and any change to the protection.
- The studio cannot remove a founder alone, or brand them a bad leaver alone.
- The venture owns venture-specific IP, customers, domains, data, code and brand.
- Studio background IP stays with the studio and is licensed on terms the company can operate under, including a transfer if the company is sold.
- Work after the agreed build needs a board-approved statement of work. There is no perpetual exclusive services contract.
Forty-eight months to an independent company
01
Commit
Months 0–3
0% → 12.5% vested
Form the company, assign IP, test the thesis.
02
Validate and build
Months 4–12
12.5% → 50% vested
Discovery, prototype, first team.
03
Launch and prove
Months 13–24
50% → 66.7% vested
Pilot, revenue, the protected window.
04
Scale and separate
Months 25–36
66.7% → 83.3% vested
Founder-led growth, studio steps back.
05
Independent
Months 37–48
83.3% → 100% vested
Protection ends. Ordinary shareholder.
Independence checks
- Month 12 — a product someone outside the studio has used, and a founder who is the public lead.
- Month 24 — a repeatable commercial motion or an honest decision to stop. Engineering is not only studio staff.
- Month 36 — the company can ship without a studio statement of work. Finance and customers sit with the company.
- Month 48 — protection expires. The studio is a shareholder with information rights, not an operating parent.
Illustrative terms, one page
- Parties
- Blockchain Lab and the founder team, incorporating a new company.
- Scope
- Thesis, brand, product, engineering and go-to-market foundations for an agreed theme. Not a blank cheque of future work.
- Cap table
- 25% studio. Founder-led: 35% lead, 15% co-founders, 15% pool, 5% advisers, 5% reserve.
- Vesting
- 48 months, reverse vesting, 50% by month 12, 100% at month 48.
- Window
- Months 12–24 call on a declining slice of vested shares if the founder walks without good-leaver status.
- Protection
- 48 months, internal dilution shifted to non-studio holders. External cap of 15%, then pro rata or shared dilution.
- Pool
- Granted against real hires. Top-ups inside the window do not dilute the studio.
- IP
- Company owns what is built for it. Studio background IP is licensed, not held hostage.
- End
- Either side stops future services if the other is in material breach. Equity follows the documents, not the argument.
- Disputes
- Forum and law are chosen at incorporation, not on a marketing page.
Who should apply
Full-time operators with a buyer in one of the five themes, who have read this page and still want the trade. Not teams shopping a token, and not people who need capital next month as the only deliverable.
- You send a thesis. We read it.
- If it fits, a conversation. If it does not, we say so.
- A validation sprint is scoped in writing.
- Only then do lawyers draft a venture agreement. Nothing on this website is that agreement.
Apply
Questions
Is the 25% stake really non-dilutive forever?
No. Protection lasts 48 months and applies to internal issuances: founder replacements, option-pool top-ups, adviser grants and similar. The first 15% of external new money in that window can be borne by non-studio holders. Above that, Blockchain Lab dilutes with everyone unless it invests pro rata. After month 48 the protection ends.
Does submitting this page create a company or grant equity?
No. The page is an illustrative model. Equity exists only in signed documents for a specific company, reviewed by counsel in the incorporation jurisdiction.
What if a founder leaves in month 12?
Unvested shares are subject to repurchase. During months 12–24 a voluntary exit also allows a declining call over part of the vested shares, so the year-one acceleration is not a free option on a dormant stake. A good leaver is treated differently, and the studio cannot make that call alone.
Can Blockchain Lab remove a founder?
Not unilaterally. Bad-leaver findings and any call over vested shares need documented cause, notice, a chance to respond, and the independent director.
Illustrative commercial design only. This is not legal, tax, investment, employment or securities advice, and it is not an offer to the public, a solicitation to invest, or a promise of funding, equity or returns. Structures vary by venture and must be drafted for the incorporation jurisdiction by qualified startup, tax and securities counsel. Blockchain Lab does not claim to be a licensed investment manager, broker or bank on the basis of this website.