In every early project there’s a moment when reality outruns the cap table. Someone pulls three late nights to land a pilot. Someone else designs a prototype on the bus to work. A friend jumps in for a week, solves a gnarly bug, and disappears like a legend. Traditional equity, fixed too early, negotiated on vibes, can’t keep up with how collaboration actually happens.
Heirloom’s answer is simple in spirit and rigorous in practice: dynamic equity. We let ownership emerge from real contributions over time, then harden it into formal equity when the project is ready. It’s our way of bringing the best of “shared capitalism” - broad-based upside tied to performance - into the messy, creative, early stage where most tools don’t reach.
The problem with “set it and forget it” ownership
Static splits decided on day one bake in guesses as if they were facts. They over-reward intentions and under-reward outcomes. They also create awkward on-ramps: how do you invite new contributors after month three without detonating the politics?
Meanwhile, the evidence is clear that spreading upside changes behavior for the better. Across industries, broad-based employee ownership and profit sharing are associated with higher engagement, stronger performance, and greater resilience - especially when paired with meaningful voice at work. For a research overview, see Shared Capitalism at Work (Kruse, Freeman, Blasi, NBER/University of Chicago Press) and the National Center for Employee Ownership’s research findings.
What “dynamic equity” means on Heirloom
On Heirloom, projects (“Looms”) start as Open Projects: transparent about goals, roles, and how ownership is earned. From there, four principles keep things fair and fast:
1) Contributions are tracked, not assumed. Time, expertise, cash, network wins - contributions are logged and weighted by agreed-upon rules. Popularized frameworks like Slicing Pie made this idea legible to founders; we adapt the spirit (fair, flexible, contribution-indexed) to collaborative, multi-contributor projects.
2) Ownership accrues as you add value. Points convert into a claim on the project’s upside at predefined “hardening” events - incorporation, revenue milestones, external funding. That conversion locks dynamic contribution history into formal equity.
3) Guardrails keep it fair. We support cliffs/vesting, floors/ceilings, off-ramps (buy-backs for departing contributors), and rules to prevent late-stage “ownership whiplash.” Flexibility is great; trust is better - so we design for both.
4) Cash isn’t the only lever. Early teams are time-rich and cash-poor. Dynamic equity lets groups compensate with slices of future upside while aligning around outcomes today.
Why this model - versus ESOPs or co-ops?
We love ESOPs and worker-ownership models. They’re proven vehicles for spreading wealth at scale in mature companies. The NCEO documents how employee ownership can boost retention, stability, and performance, and their research program keeps new data flowing.
ESOPs are amazing, but they’re later-stage instruments, optimized for operating businesses with stable cash flows. Dynamic equity fills the gap for the formation stage. As a project matures, you can evolve into ESOPs, Employee Ownership Trusts, or similar structures while preserving the contribution-based history that got you there. If you want to see how mainstream investors are also pushing broad-based ownership at scale, check out Ownership Works (founded by KKR’s Pete Stavros) and their 2024 impact report.
Branding matters: make ownership visible
If broad-based ownership is the engine, visibility is the dashboard light that tells customers and candidates what’s under the hood. Certification programs like Certified Employee-Owned (Certified EO) help companies signal their ownership design. We take cues from that movement: on Heirloom, projects can make their ownership model visible from day one.
What this is not
It’s not token hype or a pay-to-play arrangement. It’s not a contest for the loudest voice. And it’s not a loophole to avoid paying people. Dynamic equity is a discipline: it rewards outcomes, creates on-ramps for new contributors without politics, and gives teams a principled way to say, “You did the work - now you own the work.”
The human reason we care
Heirloom grew out of a simple conviction: ownership is a lever for dignity. From ESOP mainstays to private-equity backed broad-based grants, the pattern is the same - when people share the upside, they carry the mission differently. We’re building the early-stage version of that story so more good ideas survive the gauntlet between “let’s try this” and “we made it.”
Heirloom provides collaborative tools and templates to help teams organize their work and capture credit. Nothing on this page is legal advice. If you choose to incorporate, consult counsel; we provide exports that make it easier to formalize what you’ve already agreed in practice.
Sources & Further Reading
- Kruse, Freeman, Blasi (eds.). Shared Capitalism at Work.
- National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO): Research findings on employee ownership and research hub.
- Ownership Works (founded by Pete Stavros): Board/overview and 2024 Impact Report.
- Certified Employee-Owned: Program site.
- Slicing Pie (dynamic equity background): Fixed vs. Dynamic Equity.