u/yutelove

Hi all, new to the courier community!

I’m personally aiming to get my ass off benefits and try and build my own company, whilst having flexibility in picking up shifts 3 times a week (3 routes a day).

I’d love to know how much people typically earn and their approach to picking up routes.

My chest and shoulders feel a lot lighter since being onboarded as a courier, this job is probably going to save me from drowning in debt 🙂

excited to hear how everyone is doing! Have a great Friday.

I'm CEO and co-founder of a B2B tech company selling into enterprise. My co-founder is our CTO and has built genuinely the best product in our niche (clients tell us it beats the PE-backed global incumbents). He's brilliant, but he prefers to stay in the background, so most leadership and commercial decisions end up sitting with me.

About 4 months ago we brought on a senior commercial guy as a contractor. He'd just left the biggest competitor in our space (heavily PE-backed, offices globally) where he was near director level, running partnerships. He was between roles, so we started him on a 3-month consultancy. That rolled on, and now we're formalising a proper package.

The good

He's opened a lot of doors. Super connectors, influential people in the US who shape decisions at top companies (one in particular is really bought into us), and CEOs of tech companies that sell to the same buyers we do, where we're exploring a plug-and-play partnership to win and keep those clients together.

The problem

4 months in, nothing has closed.
I know enterprise B2B cycles are long. But I can't help comparing. I have no sales background, I'm (by my own admission) a bit awkward and legal-minded, and in that time I've closed two enterprise clients myself and found partnership opportunities that could be a real multiplier for the business.

The equity

He's taking a big pay cut to be with us, and we genuinely enjoy working with him, so we want him to share in the success for taking a bet on us. We offered 4% on top of his pay. He pushed back hard and asked for 7%. We told him that's co-founder territory, especially alongside a salary, but we've agreed to it in principle.

What we're drafting so far:

•	Retainer through his limited company, 12 months firm, with step-ups at revenue milestones

•	Uncapped commission on net collected revenue he originates, with clawback on refunds/cancellations

•	Equity on a 4-year vest with a 12-month cliff

•	Good/bad leaver provisions and pre-emption on his shares  

Where I'm stuck is milestones. I want at least part of the equity tied to performance, but I have no idea what fair, contractual milestones look like for a first senior commercial hire.

What's worrying me

•	He's deeply embedded because we've trusted him with a lot. He could easily walk into one of the scrappy YC-backed startups that keep popping up in our space and take these maturing relationships with him.

•	Sometimes I feel manipulated into giving him what he wants. To be fair to him, influencing people is literally what we hired him for, and I own that I've let it happen.

•	My co-founder doesn't want to weigh in on these calls, so it feels like I'm making them alone.  

I don't want to put this down to being a young woman in the room with a very experienced guy, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't wondered whether that's part of the dynamic.

My questions

1.	What milestones have you used to vest equity (not just cash) for a first commercial/sales hire? Revenue? Signed contracts? Partnerships converted into revenue?

2.	Is 7% on top of pay reasonable for a senior hire at our stage, or have we overpaid? If we have, how do you restructure without blowing up the relationship?

3.	How do you protect the relationships he's introduced if he leaves? Non-solicits, CRM ownership, making sure a founder is in every key conversation?

4.	Is 4 months with zero closes a red flag, or normal for partnership-led enterprise sales?

5.	Would I be better off finding experienced B2B commercial leaders who'd get involved for equity only, as advisors or fractional?

6.	Who should I actually be talking to about this? Lawyer, mentor, advisor, coach?

7.	Any stories from founders (especially younger or female founders) who struggled managing a senior hire with way more experience than them? How did it play out?

I feel like I'm flopping as a leader right now, so any honest perspective is welcome, including if the answer is that I'm the problem. Cheers for any advice!

Had to cancel my appointment with my UC work coach the day before, because I had a job interview clashing that was in another city so I had some travel time included. She really told me “I’ll have to mark this as a missed interview and you could get sanctioned if repeated”

Make this make sense? The whole point of being a work coach is to tell me to seize every opportunity for work yet when I do, I get a black mark

Small B2B services company, two founders. We’re bringing on our first senior commercial hire on a formal package. He’s got 25 years in the space, has been working with us informally already, and we’d genuinely like to keep him.

His stated floor is £100k. We can’t fund that yet. We’ve got one contract landing shortly and a larger one in the pipeline, but nothing collected at the scale that would support that salary. He said he’s down for equity. But he also has a mortgage and kids so we’ve got to support him.

Two options we’re considering:

Option 1
£4k/month base, stepping to £6k at £150k cumulative collected revenue and £8.3k at £400k. 10% commission on net collected revenue he originates, uncapped. 3% equity, four-year vest, twelve-month cliff.

Option 2
£2.5k/month base plus £1.5k/month accruing, payable when our next contract signs. Same step-ups. 5% commission. 8% equity, same vesting.

Our average sales contract is £50k pa.

Both have commission on cash collected with clawback, plus standard leaver provisions.

What I’d like a read on:

1. Is 8% too much for a commercial hire at this stage, or about right given the pay cut?
2. Does the tiered base read as a genuine route to his number, or as a dodge?
3. Anything obviously missing or unfair that I’m too close to see?

Happy to be told we’ve got this wrong.

Hey all. throwing this out there because Reddit has been more useful to me than most warm intros.

I run a brand protection / IP enforcement company. Short version: we go after counterfeiters, infringers and pirated content on behalf of rights holders, and we’ve built an AI-native detection and takedown platform to do it.

Normally it’s a cost centre (rights holders spend high 5 figures a year, sometimes 6 figures) to solve this problem with competitors. We actually are zero upfront cost, and generate new revenue from the counterfeiters and give it back to the brand - or they can choose to reinvest it into our other services.

Where we’re at:

• Post-revenue, $50k–$100k in, \~$300k+ more sitting in pipeline from IP litigation already effected on behalf of our clients.
• On top of the above, law firms want to license the tech — average contract size around £150k (margin is 80%) and this is where our biggest interest is currently generated. We have 3 large UK firms close to contracting. Conversations are moving very quickly.
• Every bit of market validation from brands is coming back the same way: we’re doing this differently and the incumbents are slow
• Industry leaders and consultants from my old shop (large, US PE-backed, global offices and headcount) are asking to come with me

• currently in talks with Hollywood and Music corporates to offer a monetization package for the IP which reinvests into our deepfake product for actors/celebs/artists.

Who we are:

I’m 28F, UK lawyer, and have worked in the brand protection space for Warner bros, Microsoft, P&G, Sega before, and built low level LegalTech before. My co-founder is ex-Google, ex-Apple and is AI advisor to the US government. He’s built the tech. We get on great and we’re absolutely grinding and committing. We have also nicked a director from the world’s biggest competitor in our space - who was responsible for building and growing their global partnerships network to over $50m. We’re expecting a great ROI from him.

Raising $550k to help further launch our deepfake/likeness detection product, activate the consulting network, add headcount and capability, and put real money behind marketing.

I’d love to talk to an investor who understands IP or enforcement, or anyone who wants to be part of a now borderline LegalTech, AI native SaaS. We care so much about what we do and how we’re doing it.

DMs open. Happy to share the deck and numbers.

Hey all, looking for input from anyone who's sold B2B into law firms (or bought software as a lawyer).

Quick context: we've built an IP enforcement platform that scans for infringement across trademarks, copyright and patents, surfaces everything it finds, and packages the evidence automatically. A law firm using it can basically spin up an in-house brand protection service overnight, or use the auto-captured evidence to generate litigation matters. Their clients are already sitting there - big brand rosters, existing trust - the firm just doesn't currently have the tech to monetise them this way.

Our current pricing thinking:
Base platform fee (~$5k/month) for the firm
Per-brand fee at a wholesale rate, which the firm marks up and passes straight to the client as a retainer - so it's margin-positive for them from day one

Here's where I'm stuck. The realistic value to a firm isn't the software cost, it's the downstream work it creates. Enforcement matters, takedown programmes, and litigation cases generated by the platform could easily produce six figures in billables or recoveries per year for an active firm. Pricing at $5k/month + per-brand fees feels like we might be massively underselling against the value created.
But I also know law firms are notoriously slow, risk-averse buyers, and a big upfront number kills deals before anyone's seen the ROI.

Would you anchor low to get in the door and raise later, or price against value from day one and accept a longer sales cycle?

Where would you price this?

Genuinely thankful for any input. It’s a new world to me.

Hi all - hoping for some advice on a situation I'm navigating. 28F based in England.

I worked as a PA for a small charity from February to May 2026 (just under 3 months). During that time I made three disclosures to the CEO:

1. Refused to put my name to a National Lottery monitoring form I believed involved double-counted receipts submitted to multiple funders - I have the email evidence of this.
2. Raised a personal safety concern about being pressured to appear on the company website (I have an abusive ex whose location I need to stay hidden from). The CEO continued to push despite knowing this and even gave me a timeframe to report my ex to the police so that they can move forward in putting me on the website.
3. Raised concerns about a colleague's dismissal process - specifically that her contract terms were being materially changed before a formal meeting had taken place and that she was sacked on the spot, informally, and in front of others at a training session.

After each of these, the CEO's behaviour toward me changed significantly. Following the third disclosure in particular: I was shouted at in a meeting room, blamed personally for the cost of following a fair process, asked to complete a reflective practice sheet (effectively admitting fault), had my desk removed without warning, and was publicly humiliated in front of colleagues. At least one colleague witnessed this.

I went off sick with anxiety shortly after and resigned in early May, citing my health.

I also believe I was underpaid SSP - the charity's handbook still referenced the old 3-day waiting rule, which was abolished from 6 April 2026, and my sickness began on 22 April. And I'm owed holiday pay (I keep chasing this and he’s not responding to me).

I'm looking at: whistleblowing detriment, harassment under the Equality Act, constructive dismissal, and unlawful wage deductions. ACAS deadline is around 31 July.

Has anyone navigated something similar? Particularly interested in:
- Whether the short service period is likely to be an issue (I know it shouldn't be for whistleblowing/EqA)
- Whether the three disclosures are strong enough to be 'qualifying' under PIDA

Thanks in advance.

We’re a brand protection company and made the first-to-market deepfake and takedown product to protect personas worldwide. It’s. Amazing: works and scrapes most websites - even illicit ones.

We have buy in from a guy who basically has contacts with corporate America, wanting to be our introducer: from presidential candidates to celebrities to the best known artists and talent management firms in LA. We have him on a contract as a partner now, he’s frothing at the mouth to start selling this.

We are about to pop off fingers crossed - need funding asap - no investor is hearing us out. Is anyone interested in getting in for equity? Or does anyone have recommendations?

Applied for all the YC, platforms and tried networking.

28F, social housing background trying to retire my hardworking parents, scrappy and trying to make it 🙏 appreciate you guys

We’re a brand protection company and made the first-to-market deepfake and takedown product to protect personas worldwide. It’s. Amazing: works and scrapes most websites - even illicit ones.

We have buy in from a guy who basically has contacts with corporate America, wanting to be our introducer: from presidential candidates to celebrities to the best known artists and talent management firms in LA. We have him on a contract as a partner now, he’s frothing at the mouth to start selling this.

We are about to pop off fingers crossed - need funding asap - no investor is hearing us out. Is anyone interested in getting in for equity? Or does anyone have recommendations?

Applied for all the YC, platforms and tried networking.

28F, social housing background trying to retire my hardworking parents, scrappy and trying to make it 🙏 appreciate you guys

We’re a brand protection company and made the first-to-market deepfake and takedown product to protect personas worldwide. It’s. Amazing: works and scrapes most websites - even illicit ones.

We have buy in from a guy who basically has contacts with corporate America, wanting to be our introducer: from presidential candidates to celebrities to the best known artists and talent management firms in LA. We have him on a contract as a partner now, he’s frothing at the mouth to start selling this.

We are about to pop off fingers crossed - need funding asap - no investor is hearing us out. Does anyone have recommendations?

Applied for all the YC, platforms and tried networking.

28F, social housing background trying to retire my hardworking parents, scrappy and trying to make it 🙏 appreciate you guys

We’re a brand protection company and made the first-to-market deepfake and takedown product to protect personas worldwide. It’s. Amazing: works and scrapes most websites - even illicit ones.

We have buy in from a guy who basically has contacts with corporate America, wanting to be our introducer: from presidential candidates to celebrities to the best known artists and talent management firms in LA. We have him on a contract as a partner now, he’s frothing at the mouth to start selling this.

We are about to pop off fingers crossed - need funding asap - no investor is hearing us out. Does anyone have recommendations on how to do this?

Applied for all the YC, platforms and tried networking.

28F, social housing background trying to retire my hardworking parents, scrappy and trying to make it 🙏 appreciate you guys

Hey, I’m 28F - I’ve been Chief of Staff across high paced tech start ups and now own a b2b company doing well. I do well at organising people and projects, and mostly getting the best out of people by breaking things and trying new ways. Ex-legal so pretty risk averse and analytical too.

I’m ADHD, and I genuinely don’t think I thrive unless I’m coming up with new ideas and testing new things. Many of my ideas are so niche, but validated, but I just want a team to execute them all. I’ve been focussing on growing my current company with quality, processes, and absolute focus. but this is the side of myself I want to have fun with!

I know there’s other people out there like me. Entrepreneurs that are just constantly ideating but want the right people to do it with.

If I started a startup studio, where we own a slice of the pie, with a commitment of time towards various startups grown in the studio (which we can vote on working on - with those of us spending more time on a particular project, receiving more in equity for that particular thing) BUT we all benefit from the skills of the group, across: leadership, legal, ops, sales, tech, design, GTM, would you join?

If so, hit me up if you have something valuable to bring. Let’s make money and put out good things together.

I have 3 ideas already I want to grow across LegalTech, RegTech and B2C.

Not against setting up a couple of groups.

My b2b saas in a niche legal industry is taking off to quickly and I’m feeling stressed.

We hired a super good partnerships guy with 25 years + in amazing companies. He’s hit the ground running and landed a massive law firm who would sit at the upper end of the enterprise fee.

I am not technical. I’m legal, strategy and ops committing full time. My co founder is technical but has jobs taking up his day to day. He assures me he can build quickly.

They want a demo. I have all the legal agreements together for a pilot period.

What do I do or what do I need to ship it quickly to this first MASSIVE client. Or do I manage expectations and say “ready in x weeks”.

I’m confident my technical founder will build what I need but just worried on time.

We also have 0 income so far and need money for insurances etc. we’ve been bootstrapped with our own money so far.

My b2b saas in a niche legal industry is taking off to quickly and I’m feeling stressed.

We hired a super good partnerships guy with 25 years + in amazing companies. He’s hit the ground running and landed a massive law firm who would sit at the upper end of the enterprise fee.

I am not technical. I’m legal, strategy and ops committing full time. My co founder is technical but has jobs taking up his day to day. He assures me he can build quickly.

They want a demo. I have all the legal agreements together for a pilot period.

What do I do or what do I need to ship it quickly to this first MASSIVE client. Or do I manage expectations and say “ready in x weeks”.

I’m confident my technical founder will build what I need but just worried on time.