The "seeking co-founder" types I was referring to are folks looking for a technical co-founder who they can partner with. They don't want a service provider, and many of them don't want to pay you cash, or can't pay you cash. Instead, they offer to compensate you with equity or revenue share.
I asked because I have partnered in part-time with a "seeking co-founder" folk few years ago ... I think I took it because I wasn't experienced neither.
It's not great. But turns out okay. It did become a passive income. (I know it's very rare to happen.)
I met with a "seeking technical cofounder" who's initial position was 'my idea is so amazing that they will be very lucky to get to be involved, they wet surprised when I said they will likely struggle to find one. What helped the most when I reframed it as 'the programmer has limited capacity and your asking them to work for free for you for a year'. He saw it didn't seem like such a good deal when put that way.
The story in software companies is utterly different. The software industry is a healthy market where if your boss is an asshole, you can say "bugger you, your loss," and go get a job someplace where the standards are better. Academia is a deformed industry where funding is inadequate, too many people are encouraged to try to crowd into the field, and the setup puts all the bargaining power into the hands of employers at the expense of employees, so if your boss is an asshole, there's very little you can do about it.
- Define the % in different ranges. When the sales is less than X, you got them all.
- The company may stop their effort on this product.
- You may disagree with the company. Maybe you should get a better % for yourself, if you want to take control.
- You'd better to get an inital pay.
It's, basically, co-found a project.
You need value your self's work, the company's work, and the potetioal of this thing, etc.
