The Grunt Fund Calculator
Check Out the Pie Slicer!
Manage the contributions of your whole team using the online Pie Slicer software. The Pie Slicer tracks inputs from team members and applies the Slicing Pie formula.
To help you form your very own Grunt Fund, we have created an Excel spreadsheet that calculates slices of pie based on the model in the book. The Pie Slicer software provides more accurate and more convenient tracking.
Download the Grunt Fund Calculator
Download the Grunt Fund Calculator – Expanded to accommodate up to 20 Grunts!
The video below provide a quick explanation on using the calculator.
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How should startup shares be distributed?…
well what I know off is that there is a free calculator that I used developed by an author name Mike Moyer, the celculator worked for me maybe this might help you solve your problems. it’s called the grunt calculator this is the link: http://www.slici…
[…] book Slicing Pie outlines a dynamic equity split method called a Grunt Fund. Using this method the contributions of the various participants are assigned a theoretical value […]
[…] ideas, relationships, equipment, faculties and other necessities that help a business grow. You calculate ownership by dividing what you contributed by the total of all the contributions made by everyone on the […]
‘Slicing Pie’ is fantastic because it is fair and makes sense and avoids the mistakes of splitting too early. I read the book last week and our team is now slicing pie using this model. Thanks a lot. Troy Westley, CEO CareMonkey.
Saw the video having run into (showstopper) issues with division of value in the past. This model is respectably comprehensive without being burdensome. I have bought the book and look forward to more insights through it.
Thanks!
[…] can read some insights on his website and, download a nifty spreadsheet that helps attribute equity for grunt […]
I really like the slicingpie approach as an angel investor I have just helped an early stage investor unwind their shareholding in an approach similar (less well developed) as slicingpie. Thanks for sharing your insights and methods it will save SO many early ventures. I will share the magic with my networks. Scott
Thanks for your comment, Scott!
Thanks Mike, this is really useful. A friend in SF got us onto your book and it makes a lot of sense. Having this calculator helps bring the concept into reality really nicely. Thank you.
Thanks Will! I’m glad you liked it. Be sure to thank your friend for me!
Great read!
Great book… and a cool calculator too. You should be charging $500 bucks for this! The insight alone is worth ten times that.
Hi David, I’m sure we can work something out….!
Halfway done
great tool, saved me 90 minutes, thanks Mike!
Glad you liked it!
This is super helpful! Saves us a ton of time!
Great book Mike, lifesaver!
Hey Mike, this is a nice idea. But why is the WE day a Wednesday?
Oh wait, I see the formula is taking the start date from C3…but I thought you explained that as the start date of the Grunt, not the company. With this method each employee would have a different WE making it hard to tally weekly hours put into the project. I am sure you have a reason
Just loved it Mike. You are a visionary.
Dear Mr. Moyer i’ve read you’re free sample book but at some point i feel confused. because actually i found your theory when our business has started and the agreement has been made. but still thanks for your sharing Mr. Moyer
[…] and another site I’ve been exploring is The Grunt Fund/ Slicing Pie a website about startup equity. There is app you can use to calculate what percentage […]
My co-founder has suggested I make a loan to get our new company started, that will start to be returned once the company is trading profitably in 6-12 months. I’m unsure how to plug this into the calculator (versus a simple cash-for-equity deal). Any suggestions?
Loans are covered in the book. Ver 2.3 of the Paperback edition: page 75 (Chapter 3: Creating a Grunt Fund, Section Heading: Loans and Credit). You may expect your principle + agreed upon interest, but no pie unless something goes awry.
I have mentored many tens of entrepreneurs where this spreadsheet might have saved their company when the inevitable fall-out over something unforeseen happened. I will be encouraging every entrepreneur I know to read the Slicing Pie book and at the very least use this spreadsheet. As for myself, I will be signing up for the new Slicing Pie app :)
[…] Business Process Management (BPM) Training and Education. GIMP – The GNU Image Manipulation Program. Tutorials. Blog.SpoonGraphics. Business Technology Management – IT Governance Framework – Val IT. Enterprice IT Management – ISACA. Tour. Stock Table | Cap Table | Founders Shares | Slicing Pie | Start-Up Equity, Founder's Shares, Dividin…. […]
[…] The technician is forced to learn how to make the business work, rather than do the work himself. Every technician suffering from an Entrepreneurial Seizure experiences the same thing: 1. Everybody who goes into business is actually three people in one: The Entrepreneur dreams The Manager frets The Technician ruminates While each of these personalities wants to be the boss, none of them wants to have a boss. The Entrepreneur lives in the future, never in the past, rarely in the present. The Manager craves order, compulsively clings to the status quo. Stock Table | Cap Table | Founders Shares | Slicing Pie | Start-Up Equity, Founder's Shares, Dividin…. […]
I saw Mike present this in Brisbane last week. This is one of the most exciting entrepreneur tools I’ve seen in the last 10 years. Careful thought has gone into executing this. I won’t start another business without it.
Just listened to the book on a drive from Houston to Baton Rogue and back, life saver!!
Great! Say “hi,” to Houston for me!
Will do, though the heat and humidity are brutal these days. I just finished briefing my starting team on the Pie Slicing and showed the chart. All have completely bought into, thanks Mike!!
Gruntmaster,
I have been contemplating similar ideas and really look forward to combining with this concept and calculator. I have a couple questions,
1) my company is 4.5 years old and I am considering creating phantom stock in order to attract and retain key team members and possibly real equity for a possible investor to help take the company to a better place. We are no longer a start up toddler but I would say a tween as far as maturity. I can’t think of any reason Slicing Pie wouldn’t work, can you?
2) I would take the value it currently is (with the council of a few wise people) and move forward at that point. I think I would reduce the risk some due to the fact we are no longer a start up. I am purchasing the book but curious on your take if that’s not in there (value is profit x 5, contract street value of accounts under agreements – monitored alarm accounts accounts, and street wholesale value of inventory and other assets – any debt). Does that sound reasonable? Any suggestions for a smaller but stable company like mine?
3) I was thinking about offering phantom stock small percentage to a Board and business advisers in lieu of fees (acct, lawyer, bus coach, etc), allow employees to convert performance bonus or deferred salary into the Pie as you mention, and investor. I really like the concepts outlined. Any issues between phantom and real stock? I am 100% owner and not wanting to mess with real stock shares quite yet but sometime? How does that affect the Pie?
Thanks in advance
Hi Kirk,
Thanks for the note. Slicing Pie is mostly for bootstrapped startups. It’s based on individual risk. In more established companies individual risk isn’t taken because people are usually getting paid their fair market rates. In these cases equity is more about bonus and retention programs. A more traditional stock option or phantom stock program might work better. I’m working on a book about bonus programs, but it’s still rough!
Hi Mike – Loved your book! Very new to the start-up business and I need some clarification.
I am the founder of a start-up. Prior to reading your book I hired two developers. The arrangement we made was that I would pay them their fair value wage of $200 an hour however, half would be paid in cash the other would be in units of shares. How would this be inputted using your pie slicer techniques? I would hate to go back and renegotiate our terms as we all have a trusting and great relationship but I also don’t want this agreement to haunt me, so if I am wayyyyy off the mark, can you suggest an alternative solution?
Hi Desirae,
To use the Pie Slicer, you would simply input the unpaid portion of their rate. In your case, you would enter $100 which would convert to 200 slices per hour.
You may be overpaying them unless they are some amazing developers. You’re paying them a $400,000 annual salary. Seems high. This is strictly a contractor rate so you should negotiate a buyout with them instead of equity. An outline for doing this is in the book.
Hello from Sydney. Your book is amazing and helped me so much. Ive been wracking my brain trying to work out where to even start with this! I cant thank you enough.
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you liked it! I was in Sydney over the summer. Great city, lots of Grunts!
What does it mean when you divide by 2000? Where does the 2000 come from?
Hours in a year!
Hi Mike,
I started my business 3 years ago and now I have a friend who’s interested in becoming an investor/business partner. Let’s say he put $20,000 as minor working capital today. How come under the grunt fund excel tab, his money is shown as $80,000 (after multiplied by 4)? He is investing in the present time, not years ago.
The money should only convert when it’s been spent, not when it’s deposited.
The 4x applies to cash invested at any time. This article might help: http://slicingpie.com/the-magic-of-mutipliers/
-Mike
I want to use Slicing Pie for a restart. We have strong intellectual property and are putting together a new team and new financing. But we want to allocate a slice of the pie to the original investors and original team who had grunt equity. At $1 per unit, there was $2,000,000 in original cash investment and 1,200,000 in units allocated for grunt equity, $3.2 million total. Since all those units are in a separate LLC, call it Old LLC. I want to assign an appropriate Slice of the Pie to Old LLC as a single entity in the Slice Pie spreadsheet. Currently, I just lumped the whole $3.2 million into “legal fees” under “intellectual property” as Old LLC’s share. Actually, most of that went to equipment leases and salaries. Would you recommend a different approach??
Hi David,
You could allow Old LLC to license the IP to the New LLC and provide a royalty. Lumping the whole enchilada in the Pie could demotivate future employees. Set up some time with me at clarity.fm/mikemoyer if you want to talk in person!
-Mike
How do the Calculator and the App interact? If I buy the App, is there still a use for the Calculator? Thanks!
The calculator is an Excel spreadsheet, the Pie Slicer is online software. They are separate tools for the same thing. I think the software is easier to use for teams. All the calculations are built in.
I’m just digging into this system and am about to start using the spreadsheet before deciding whether I’ll need to invest in the software. Is it safe to assume that once I have the spreadsheet filled out I will be able to upload a .csv file to the app, if I should decide to go that route? If not, could you provide a more comprehensive analysis of what the software offers opposed to the spreadsheet so that I can determine whether it’s worth the investment?
Hi Citizen X,
Thanks for the note. The spreadsheet provides a basic tracking system for Slicing Pie, but because it’s just a spreadsheet it has limitations. Lots of people use it, but the software is much more robust. It allows multiple user accounts, more nuanced tracking, and it logs contributions and details over time.
Think about it this way: you can certainly manage your accounting needs using Excel, but QuickBooks is probably well worth the investment if your company starts to grow.
There is no import function for the Pie Slicer.
We are about to launch an updated version of the application. Here is a link to more detail: http://slicingpie.com/equity-calculator/
-Mike
Mike,
Just bought the audio version of your Slicing pie. Digging in shortly!
Thank you for making your spreadsheet available free. Question on the rubric please:
The rubric allows for a 4x multiplier for cash contributions– yet unpaid commissions operate on only a 2x multiplier in the model. Can you please explain the difference (in TV) between the treatment of hard-cash and unpaid commissions in the model? Thanks.
Cash contributions refer to out of pocket expenses or cash consumed. Commission is a form of compensation, unpaid salary, commission, royalties, etc. are non cash contributions.
I stumbled over you book on Quora or Medium, and was immediately attracted to the title and the cover design. I’ve just finished it, mostly read on my iphone during short breaks, and done in a couple of days, so it’s super easy to read.
And now I’m a bit upset!
Basically because I hadn’t stumbled over it before. We are bootstrapping our underwater robots business, nidorobotics.com (shameless self promotion) and the equity question has been a personal headache, coupled with how to evaluate the startup Pre-money.
Anyway, I’m SO implementing this over the next few weeks in our company. I’ll translate the important parts to my Spanish team and I would like to publish our findings on our website (I’m also a fan of Buffer’s transparency policies), if that’s ok with you.
Hi Roy,
Thanks for the comment. Be sure to check out the retrofit guide: http://slicingpie.com/slicing-pie-retrofitforecast-guide/
And the spanish translation: http://amzn.to/2aE00PP
-Mike
Gotcha!
[…] Handbook to Starting a Venture). If you’d like a little more detail, you can watch the calculator video, or, even better, simply sign up for the Pie […]
Hi Mike! Great book and tutorial. I’m an early stage founder and Slicing Pie has come at the perfect time. I’ve downloaded your Excel Spreadsheet, what legal documents do I need in order to make things official with contractors / founders? Thanks
You can find Lawyers and Contracts on the web site (http://slicingpie.com/slicing-pie-lawyers/) and software too (http://slicingpie.com/the-new-pie-slicer/).
The software is better than the spreadsheet
Great read Mike! Quick and informative, and definitely a model that makes sense for the fast-paced and chaotic world of start-ups. Wish I’d had this resource a decade ago!!
Quick question re: harvesting/partitioning a fair Founder’s stake.
I crafted the concept for this business 6 months ago and built out 95% of a concept and working business model utilizing my relationships and personal resources. Just recently met a potential partner who I will be bringing on who has helped me significantly alter my business model to a more successful projected model (from pure consulting to a distribution/sales model) with new perspective based on his experience in the industry, and who is also bringing in many relationships that I anticipate will result in sales that will drive the company’s revenue generation. I want to protect myself with an appropriate % of ownership prior to establishing the Grunt Fund appropriate to my founder status, but also be fair to my partner and allow for adequate growth. Any basic guidelines for what would be a reasonable slice to harvest prior to establishing the Grunt Fund? Would it make sense to harvest two portions and include him as a Founder, or more appropriate to hold off on that until we’re pulling in revenue and or looking at bringing more people on?
I/we do anticipate taking on advisors and even potentially other future partners/grunts, and will want to utilize this dynamic model with them, but as I start the implementation of this Pie model I want to make sure that I will maintain that % of ownership as the original founder. This was my original idea but he has definitely helped me build on it and will be instrumental in making it successful. I just want to make sure it’s completely fair to everyone and don’t want to be an @sshole!
With Gratitude,
Pete
FYI, I did just start The Founder’s Dilemmas (per your rec) so I’m sure some insight will come there, but my question is specifically regarding the harvesting/partitioning within the Slicing Pie model given my situation.
The Founder’s Dilemmas makes a great case for why dynamic splits are important, but it’s not really a how-to guide like Slicing Pie or The Slicing Pie Handbook (http://amzn.to/2stxWw8).
I no longer recommend partitioning because it’s not really fair and will backfire when the team realizes the founder is taking advantage. Just use the retrofit tool (https://slicingpie.com/slicing-pie-retrofitforecast-guide/) to determine the current number of slices and go from there.
Yeah, I’ve read Slicing Pie and going to be sharing it with my potential partner so he understands what I’m trying to setup. Also considering getting the 6-pack to share with other potential grunts and advisors as well.
I’m getting a 404-message on that page for the retrofit tool. Is there another link I can find it on?
https://slicingpie.com/slicing-pie-retrofitforecast-guide
Try that!
Hi Mike, do you have an article or can you describe how to convert a dynamic percentage of the pie into shares. I’m about to incorporate (most likely S Corp) with a co-founder and we can allocate the number of shares based on the current percentage of slices but this number is constantly changing. Do we have to keep buying/selling shares in order to match the percentage in the grunt fund?
I do not know, I still have the same issue I do not understand.
I find it great, but there is something confusing me. I though of using it for my start-up, but when is the time limit to stop and say “Ok, here is what everyone’s share”. I mean, it will always be available. The more others contribute, the more they take form my share. They might say “ok, let’s divide it according to that” when it is the maximum to their benefit. I mean is there a ratio between there share to mine in the calculations. Because I do not still get it.
Slicing Pie is used during the bootstrapping phase before cash is available to pay expenses. After breakeven or Series A financing the model terminates and the Pie “bakes” so everyone gets/vests their fair share. After breakeven the company can implement a different equity/options/incentive bonus program.
Aha, ok. Now I can get it. Thank you so much.
This is awesome Mike, I’ve been reading the book and would have loved we had this knowledge three years ago, nevertheless would like to know if we could still implement your system but instead of considering contributions on a weekly basis we could go back and make memory by accounting our contributions on a monthly basis?