Founder Ownership Report 2025

Raising VC? Here’s How Much Equity You’ll Actually Keep

Equity is a startup’s most valuable resource. But how should founders allocate it to co-founders, investors, and employees?

Our newly released Founder Ownership 2025 report—based on data from 45,000+ startups—sheds light on how equity ownership evolves in the U.S. venture ecosystem. Here are some of the most eye-opening insights:

🔹 Solo Founders on the Rise

• The percentage of startups led by a solo founder has more than doubled over the past decade, hitting 35% in 2024.

• However, solo founders are less likely to raise VC funding—while they made up 35% of new startups, they represented only 17% of VC-backed companies.

🔹 Equal Splits Are Gaining Popularity

• More co-founders are choosing equal equity splits than ever before. In 2024, 45.9% of two-person founding teams divided equity equally—up from 31.5% in 2015.

🔹 Founder Ownership Drops Fast at Early Stages

• After raising a Seed round, the median founding team retains 56.2% equity.

• At Series A, it drops to 36.1%, and by Series B, it’s just 23%.

🔹 Founder CEO Equity: Real Data from 5,857 Startups

• The number of co-founders significantly impacts CEO ownership over time.

• While 48% of two-founder teams start with equal equity, many see shifts as roles evolve.

• Vesting schedules are extending—more founders are opting for 5-6 years instead of the traditional 4.

📊 Want to see how your equity stacks up? Our report dives into industry-specific benchmarks, compensation trends, and best practices for startup ownership.

📖 Read the full Founder Ownership 2025 report for free here.

The Startup Success Formula: Focus & Saying “No”

Building a successful startup isn’t about doing everything—it’s about doing the right things and saying “no” to distractions.

Here’s the simple 2-step approach:

✅ Prioritize the most important tasks
✅ Stay laser-focused on them

Sounds easy, right? But as a founder, one of the most underrated skills is confidently saying no to things that don’t serve your mission.

Common Startup Traps to Avoid 🚨

🚫 Warm Intros – Well-meaning investors and friends often introduce you to people who might not be relevant to your business. If it’s not aligned with your priorities, politely decline.

🚫 Hidden Costs – Every new opportunity comes with unseen costs: meetings, integrations, marketing, and resource allocation. Always ask, Is this truly worth the effort?

🚫 Shiny Object Syndrome – New ideas and trends are tempting. But chasing every opportunity can derail focus. Prioritize what truly moves the needle.

Real-World Example

ConvertKit spent 5 months and significant resources on a rebrand, changing their name to "Kit"—a move that provided little real value to their users.

Meanwhile, beehiiv remained focused on shipping new features and improving the platform for creators.

💡 Lesson: You live and die by what you prioritize. Startups win by delivering value, not by changing colors or fonts.

Stay Focused. Build Relentlessly. Win.

👉 What’s the biggest distraction you’ve had to say no to as a founder? 

If you found these insights valuable and want more no-BS takes on startups, growth, and execution, you’ll love Big Desk Energy.

Join the community of builders who prioritize what actually matters. Subscribe now → bigdeskenergy.com 🚀

Will AI Replace Freelance Engineers and Earn $1M?

OpenAI Launches SWE-Lancer: A Benchmark for Freelance Software Engineering Tasks

In a significant move to evaluate the real-world economic impact of AI models in software engineering, OpenAI has introduced SWE-Lancer, a comprehensive benchmark that reflects the diverse and practical challenges faced by freelance developers. Here’s what you need to know:

• Massive Dataset: SWE-Lancer consists of over 1,400 freelance software engineering tasks sourced from Upwork, with a total value of $1 million in real-world payouts.

• Task Variety: The benchmark includes both independent engineering tasks—ranging from $50 bug fixes to $32,000 feature implementations—and managerial tasks, where models must select between technical implementation proposals.

• Rigorous Validation: Independent tasks are validated through end-to-end tests that have been triple-verified by experienced software engineers. Managerial decisions are benchmarked against choices made by the original hired engineering managers.

• Frontier Model Limitations: Current frontier AI models are still unable to solve the majority of tasks, highlighting the gap between AI capabilities and the demands of professional freelance software engineering.

• Open-Source Tools: To support and accelerate further research, OpenAI has released a unified Docker image and a public evaluation split called SWE-Lancer Diamond.

• Economic Insight: By mapping AI model performance to monetary value, OpenAI aims to encourage deeper exploration into how AI advancements could reshape the software engineering market.

Why Does This Matter? SWE-Lancer provides a unique perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of AI in a professional setting, offering tangible benchmarks for progress.

It highlights the limitations AI must overcome to be a viable alternative to human freelancers while opening avenues for research on how AI can complement, rather than replace, skilled engineers.

Ultimately, it serves as a crucial tool for understanding AI's evolving role in the global economy and its potential impact on the future of work.

Accomplish More. Juggle Less.

When you love what you do, it can be easy to take on more — more tasks, more deadlines, more hours – but before you know it, you don’t have time to do what you loved in the beginning. Don’t just do more – do more of what you do best.

BELAY’s flexible staffing solutions leverage industry experience with AI systems to increase productivity without sacrificing quality. You can accomplish more and juggle less with our exceptional U.S.-based Virtual Assistants, Accounting Professionals, and Marketing Assistants. Learn how with our free ebook, Delegate to Elevate, and leave the more to BELAY.

Download now

The Truth About AI Safety – Google’s 2024 Report Unveiled!

AI is evolving rapidly, and with it comes the responsibility to ensure its safe and ethical development. Google’s 2024 Responsible AI Progress Report highlights key advancements in AI safety, governance, and innovation.

🔹 Advancing AI Responsibly

• Google has published AI Principles since 2018 and provides annual transparency reports.

• The 2024 report details governance structures, risk mitigation, and AI safety enhancements.

• More than 300 research papers on AI responsibility and safety were published last year.

🔹 Key Updates from Google’s AI Safety Framework

• Frontier Safety Framework updated to address emerging AI risks.

• New security measures to prevent AI misuse and exfiltration risks.

• Focus on AI literacy through global funding, tools, and research collaboration.

🔹 Evolving AI Principles

Google has updated its AI Principles to emphasize:
✅ Bold Innovation – AI that drives progress, inspires creativity, and solves global challenges.
✅ Responsible Development – A lifecycle approach to AI safety, from design to deployment.
✅ Collaborative Progress – Partnering with organizations and governments to shape AI’s future.

🚀 What’s Next?

As AI moves toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), responsible development is more crucial than ever. Google is committed to ensuring AI benefits humanity while maintaining the highest ethical standards.

📌 Read the full report: AI.google

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Grok-3: xAI’s Bold Move in the AI Race

Elon Musk’s xAI has unveiled Grok-3, claiming it as the "smartest AI on Earth." The model outperforms Gemini-2 Pro, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and GPT-4o in key benchmarks like AIME‘24, GPQA, and LiveCodeBench.

🔹 Powered by 200,000 H100 GPUs, Grok-3 was trained on 10x more compute than Grok-2
🔹 A smaller Grok-3 Mini version promises faster responses
🔹 Topped Chatbot Arena rankings and supports deep research

With OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 and GPT-5 on the horizon and fierce competition from Anthropic and DeepMind, how long will Grok-3 stay ahead?

Ex-OpenAI CTO Launches New AI Rival 'Thinking Machines Lab'

Mira Murati, OpenAI’s former CTO, has officially launched Thinking Machines Lab, a new AI research company aiming to make AI more customizable, widely understood, and multimodal.

What’s Unique?

• The lab focuses on science, programming, and human-AI collaboration.

• Murati has assembled a star-studded team from OpenAI, DeepMind, Character AI, and Mistral.

• Committed to open science, it plans to release technical papers, code, datasets, and model specs regularly.

Why It Matters

This move follows a trend of OpenAI leaders branching out—like Ilya Sutskever’s SSI, which is reportedly raising $1B+. If Thinking Machines stays true to its open science vision, it could push the AI industry towards a more open-source future.

🚀 Will Murati’s lab redefine AI research? Stay tuned for updates.

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Finding the Right Leads? Let AI Do the Work!

AI is transforming sales, automating lead generation, outreach, and deal closures. Here are some top AI tools driving results:

✅ Breakcold – Automates cold outreach & follow-ups
✅ Leadbright – AI-driven lead qualification
✅ Sypher – Real-time sales insights
✅ CaliberMind – Data-driven revenue intelligence
✅ Conversica – AI-powered sales assistant
✅ RevSure – Forecasts sales pipeline & revenue

💡 Why It Matters:

🔹 Faster lead qualification
🔹 Personalized outreach
🔹 Higher conversion rates

Which AI sales tool do you use? 👉 Check out the full list of AI Sales Funnel here.

Ready to explore AI tools that’ll revolutionize your editing game?

• 🚀 Top AI Sales Tools to Boost Your Startup

• 🎨 Best AI Tools for Social Media Content

• 📈 AI Sales Tools for Smarter Selling

Free AI Tool to Create High-Converting Ads, Emails, & Landing Pages

🚀 Struggling to create high-converting marketing copy? Let AI do the heavy lifting!

Meet Campaign Assistant—HubSpot’s free AI-powered marketing asset creator that helps you generate compelling copy for:

✅ Landing pages
✅ Marketing emails
✅ Ad copy for Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn

How It Works

🔹 Select the type of content you need
🔹 Provide campaign details
🔹 Choose a tone of voice that fits your brand
🔹 Get high-quality, engaging copy in seconds

💡 No more writer’s block! Easily edit, tweak, and compare previous versions to refine your message.

⚡ Scale your marketing efforts with AI and focus on what truly matters—strategy and growth.

Find the Remote Jobs You’ve Been Searching For!

Check out these exciting job opportunities in top companies, offering remote and flexible roles in software engineering, backend development, and more. Explore the details and find your next career move!

💼 Ready to take the leap? Get the full list of remote opportunities with Y Combinator-backed startups and find your perfect role today! 🚀

5 Free Nvidia AI Courses You Can Finish in a Day

AI is reshaping industries, and staying ahead means continuously learning and adapting. Nvidia’s Deep Learning Institute offers free AI courses that can help professionals develop key skills, whether you're an engineer, data scientist, or AI enthusiast.

📌 Why Take These Courses?

• Gain hands-on experience in AI and deep learning.

• Earn certificates to boost your LinkedIn profile and resume.

• Complete each course in a day—ranging from 2 to 8 hours.

🔍 Here Are 5 Free Courses You Can Take Right Now:

1️⃣ Getting Started With Image Segmentation – Learn the fundamentals of image analysis.
2️⃣ Building A Brain In 10 Minutes – Understand neural networks with a quick-start guide.
3️⃣ Generative AI Explained – Dive into the world of AI-generated content.
4️⃣ Accelerate Data Science Workflows – Optimize AI workflows without writing extra code.
5️⃣ Developing An AI Background Generator With NIM – Create AI-powered backgrounds effortlessly.

🚀 Join the course now! Click the link and skill up your learning.

🔍 Instagram’s New Dislike Button for Comments

Instagram is testing a dislike button for comments, allowing users to downvote unwanted or irrelevant replies. This move aims to improve content moderation and engagement.

🚀 AR’s Impact on Business Growth

Augmented Reality (AR) is transforming industries like retail, healthcare, and real estate by enhancing customer experiences, boosting productivity, and streamlining operations.

🤖 Best AI Sales Agents for Automation

AI-powered sales agents are revolutionizing lead generation by automating outreach, analyzing customer data, and optimizing conversion strategies to drive revenue.

📹 Facebook’s 30-Day Live Video Limit

Facebook now automatically deletes live videos after 30 days, pushing creators to repurpose content quickly and rethink their live-streaming strategies.

📱 TikTok Back on US App Stores

After facing legal uncertainties, TikTok has returned to both Android and Apple app stores in the US, ensuring continued access for millions of users.

🔎 Meta’s AI to Scan DMs When Prompted

Meta warns users that its AI systems will scan direct messages (DMs) when flagged, raising concerns over privacy and how AI is used for content moderation.

• The New York Times Integrates AI in Newsroom (Link)

• Perplexity AI Releases Uncensored R1 1776 Model (Link)

• Proxy 1.0: Free AI Web Agent Competes with Tech Giants (Link)

• Vegeta vs. Goku: Power Comparison in Dokkan Battle (Link)

• Gemini Now Recalls Your Past Chats (Link)

• Hightouch raised $80M Series C (Sapphire Ventures) to enhance AI-powered marketing decisioning, helping businesses sync customer data seamlessly (Link)

• Fetii secured $7.35M Seed (Y Combinator) for its group rideshare booking platform, making shuttle services more accessible and efficient. (Link)

• FullEnrich raised $1.99M Seed (Flex Capital) to improve B2B contact enrichment, providing accurate email and phone data for sales teams. (Link)

• MirrorTab closed $8.5M Seed (Valley Capital) to advance secure browsing solutions, protecting web applications from browser-based threats. (Link)

• Digit secured $2.5M Seed (Assembly Ventures) to develop an operating system for manufacturers and distributors, streamlining ERP processes. (Link)

• What Is a Pre-Seed Round? Explained. (Link)

• Finding the Right Co-Founder for Your Startup. (Link)

• Ready to Be an Entrepreneur? Start Here. (Link)

• 7 AI Startup Ideas That Can Make $1M+ With $0. (Link)

• YC Founders Reveal the Hottest Market Trends. (Link)

• Flyover Capital Expands Investment Strategy. (Link)