Two-Tier Share Vesting Agreements for Technical Assets and Forward Development Commitments
A two-tier vesting agreement separates equity granted for transferred technical assets from equity granted for forward engineering commitments.
replacement engineering capacity
Meaning
Calculation of the total resources required to hire and train new staff to fill a technical gap left by a departing specialist. When a founding developer leaves, replacement engineering capacity measures the number of new hires needed to match the original output. It accounts for the institutional knowledge that a newcomer will lack.
Technical Substitute
Finding a single person who can handle the same breadth of code as a founder is often impossible. Instead, replacement engineering capacity is usually met by hiring junior developers or an expensive senior architect. This shift changes the budget and the communication structure of the engineering team.
Knowledge Recovery
Time spent learning the existing system is time not spent building new features. A high requirement for replacement engineering capacity indicates that the code is poorly documented or highly idiosyncratic. This phase of onboarding is a direct cost to the product roadmap.
Hiring Requirement
Identifying the specific skills needed to keep the product running is the first step in the transition. If the replacement engineering capacity is not properly estimated, the remaining team will face burnout as they try to cover the hole. It is a primary metric for assessing the risk of a technical exit.
This calculation must include the cost of recruiters and the time lost during the handover phase between the old and new staff. Without an accurate figure, the organization may find itself unable to maintain its development velocity.