Watch a founder negotiate with an investor and you'll see something close to ruthless. Every percentage point gets argued. The valuation gets stress-tested. The term sheet gets a lawyer. The pro-rata rights get a fight. By the time the wire hits, every share that just left the founder's pocket has been priced, justified, and earned a receipt in actual cash.

Now watch the same founder grant equity to a co-founder, an early employee, or an advisor.

They give it away like Halloween candy.

50% to a stranger they met at a hackathon. 2% to an early employee with a six-month vesting cliff and no performance gates. 0.25% to an advisor who once sent a useful email and never showed up again. The math, when you actually do it, is brutal — and it's the...