Land
Day 30 is decided together. You land when the goal is hit, or when both sides want to go on anyway. Landing is the day the company is formed: you become a founding resident, and your equity is granted, unvested. Splits are on the deal.
Thirty days, one goal, then decide.
Orbit is the first 30 days of a build: unpaid, with one written goal and no equity until day 30. Many co-founder matches go wrong because two people commit before they’ve worked together. Orbit reverses that order. You work first, then decide whether it’s a company.
How the 30 days run
Day 0
Shake on it
Fill in the Handshake together: one goal, the hours each of you puts in, who owns what.
Week 1
Learn the product
The crew walks you through what works, what breaks and who uses it. You ask the awkward questions.
Weeks 2–4
Work the goal
Each of you does your half. A 30-minute check-in every week keeps it honest.
Day 30
Decide together
Land, orbit again, or part ways. All three are fine outcomes.
Why 30 days
Long enough to move a number
Thirty days is enough to book the meetings, run the pilots or launch the campaign, and see whether anything changes.
Short enough to say yes to
You keep your job. The crew runs the product. Nobody signs away years before they’ve worked together.
Honest about the goal
One measurable goal, written down on day zero, means nobody argues later about whether it worked.
Day 0: the Handshake
The Handshake is a one-page plan that everyone on the build fills in before any work starts. It covers the goal, who does what, the hours, the weekly check-in, and what happens either way. A seat is one role on a build, and seats are unpaid during Orbit. Equity is granted at Landing. This is the Handshake for Tally Kitchen.
The Handshake grants no equity and is not a contract. It makes expectations visible so nobody has to guess. One line is binding: an IP assignment, signed on day zero, that says what anyone makes belongs to the company.
The Handshake
Tally Kitchen, Orbit (30 days)
- Our one goal
- 10 restaurants on a paid pilot by day 30
- Shiyu does
- Fixes anything that blocks a pilot within 48 hours. Builds the invoice export.
- You do
- Book the kitchen visits, run a live count with each chef, ask for the pilot.
- Hours each week
- Shiyu 15, you 10–15
- Check-in
- Fridays, 30 minutes
- Who owns the work
- The company. Everything made for Tally Kitchen belongs to it, and stays when anyone leaves. This is the one binding line: an IP assignment you sign on day zero. The rest is a shared plan, not a contract.
- If it works
- We land: form the company, with a lawyer. Equity vests for both of us at the same pace.
- If it doesn’t
- We part ways. Nobody owes anything. The assets stay with Build w/ Strangers; you keep your patch, your flight log and a return ticket.
Shiyu
Crew
Your name
Stranger
Day 30: three good endings
Orbit again
Close, but not sure yet. Set a new goal, adjust who does what, and go again for 30 days. You can do this once, so Landing comes at day 60.
Part ways
It didn’t click, or the product isn’t ready. Nobody owes anything. The assets stay with Build w/ Strangers; you keep your patch, your flight log and a return ticket.
A sender who brought the idea through a Signal gets the same 30 days and the same three endings.
Every question, from equity to leaving, is on the questions page.