Co-founder agreement template for Australian startups

Split the equity and lock in what happens if a founder walks early.

Ready in about 15 minutes

What this document does

This agreement is for two or more founders starting a company together, whether the company already exists or is about to. It sets the equity split, assigns each founder's work and intellectual property to the company, and puts the founders' shares on a vesting schedule so a founder who leaves early does not keep equity they have not earned. It also covers how the founders make decisions, what happens when one leaves, and an optional restraint. It is executed as a deed, which is why it binds even before the company is trading.

The questions we’ll ask

  1. The company and its stage

  2. The business

  3. Vesting

  4. Acceleration on a sale

  5. The founders

  6. When a founder leaves

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What is reverse vesting, and why do I want it?
Each founder owns all of their shares up front, but the company can buy back the shares that have not yet vested if that founder leaves early. Vesting is the schedule over which that buy-back right falls away, usually over a few years with a cliff in the first year. It is what stops a founder walking out after a few months with a large slice of the company.
Does this deal with tax?
It flags it, honestly, and does not pretend to advise on it. Founder equity and vesting have real and structure-dependent tax consequences under Division 83A and the capital gains rules. The document carries a plain warning to get your own tax advice and a defensible valuation before you rely on any particular treatment, and it does not project the 50% CGT discount into future years that are not yet settled law.
Can I sign it electronically like your other documents?
No. This is a deed, not an ordinary agreement, so it is not offered through the hosted e-signing flow. You download it and each founder signs a paper copy in the usual way for a deed, which for an individual means signing in front of a witness. The guidance walks you through it.
We have not incorporated yet, is that a problem?
No. The agreement works whether the company already exists or you are about to set it up, and it adjusts the wording either way. If you are pre-incorporation it includes a confirmatory assignment of intellectual property so nothing is left hanging when the company is registered.
Is this a subscription?
No. It is $99 once. No monthly fee, no auto-renewal. You buy the document and can reuse it as the founding team changes.

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