The Lab
How we work out who owns what.
Contributing your craft to an early company in exchange for a piece of it usually comes down to a conversation, a handshake, and a percentage somebody pulled out of the air. That works until the company is worth something, and then it doesn't.
We run it as a ledger instead. Here is exactly how.
01
Everything you contribute is recorded, in one unit
Hours, cash you spend, invoices you agree to defer — all of it converts to a single number we call at-risk dollars. One unit means there is nothing to argue about later regarding whether design time counts the same as engineering time. It does.
02
Your share is arithmetic, not a negotiation
Your position in a venture is your share of the total at-risk dollars everyone has put in, after the studio's own fixed slice. Nobody sits down to haggle a percentage, because there is no percentage to haggle — it falls out of what was recorded.
03
Record it promptly or it doesn't count
Work recorded long after it happened counts for zero. That sounds harsh, and it is the single thing that makes the rest honest: a ledger reconstructed from memory during a disagreement is not a ledger. The rule applies to everyone equally, including whoever is running the venture.
04
The ledger freezes, and then it's final
When a venture reaches break-even, takes outside investment, or simply runs out its clock, the ledger stops moving — permanently. That frozen table becomes the cap table of the company that spins out. There is no renegotiation at the moment it starts being worth something, which is exactly when renegotiation would otherwise happen.
The part most pages leave out.
If you are considering putting unpaid work into something, you should know what you are taking on. Three things worth reading before anything else.
Most early ventures fail
A position in one may end up worth nothing. If a venture is discontinued, the ledger is void and deferred balances are extinguished. Anyone deferring payment is taking the venture's risk, not the studio's credit — and should decide with that in front of them.
Hours can't be verified, only recorded
We can see a commit; we cannot see how long it took. The system checks whether what you logged is plausible against the evidence, and a person makes every call. Nothing is decided by a machine.
The numbers live in the agreement
The rate, the studio's slice, the recording window, the triggers — all of those are set per venture in a signed agreement, and nothing on this page is an offer or a term. Talk to your own adviser before signing anything. We will not be offended.
Why go to this much trouble?
Because the alternative is an argument, and the argument always arrives at the worst possible moment — when there is finally something to divide. Everyone remembers their own contribution most vividly. Nobody is lying; memory just works that way.
A ledger settles it in advance. Every number traces back to work that was recorded at the time, and every judgement call carries a written reason you can read for yourself. You always know where you stand, including when the answer is one you would rather it weren't.
Want a place in it?
Experts and founders both. We're gathering names now.
This page describes how LastLap measures contribution. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not an offer of securities or of any arrangement. Terms are set per venture in a signed agreement, and you should take your own advice before entering one.