# Merge Combinator Role Taxonomy **Version 1.0** Reference for the Pursue and Form agreements. You pick a role. You do not draft one. ## The six roles ### 1. Problem Owner The operator or mission stakeholder who validates that the gap is real. - **Owns:** the requirement, the reality check, access to actual users. - **Commits:** episodic time. Reviews, honest feedback, introductions where permitted. - **Gets:** the problem solved. See the ethics note below before offering anything else. - **Governance:** none. - **Why it exists:** generic startup frameworks have no slot for this person, and in defense they are the difference between a real venture and a demo. ### 2. Technical Founder Owns the product and the architecture. Builds the thing. - **Owns:** technology decisions, the build, technical hiring. - **Commits:** full-time, or a written date by which they go full-time. - **Gets:** the largest founder position. - **Governance:** board seat at formation. ### 3. Venture Lead Owns the business. Formation, capital, contracts, hiring, the P&L. - **Owns:** everything that is not the product. - **Commits:** full-time by formation. May be held fractionally before then. - **Gets:** founder position, sized against when they went full-time. - **Governance:** board seat at formation. ### 4. Studio (Merge Combinator) The vehicle and the assembly. - **Owns:** the contracting vehicle and CAGE code, program and operator relationships, the acquisition path, back office, and filling empty seats until the right person is found. - **Commits:** the above, plus whatever seat is currently empty. - **Gets:** a position at formation. No fees, no retainers, no billed hours. - **Governance:** board seat at formation. ### 5. Contributor Scoped, time-boxed work. An engineer, a designer, a proposal writer. - **Owns:** a defined deliverable. - **Commits:** a defined scope and end date. - **Gets:** cash, a small position, or credit. Named at the time of engagement. - **Governance:** none. ### 6. Advisor Named, low time commitment, opens doors and reviews work. - **Owns:** nothing operational. - **Commits:** a few hours a quarter, and the use of their name. - **Gets:** a small position or nothing. - **Governance:** none. ## The fractional modifier Any of Venture Lead, Technical Founder, or a named functional seat (Operations, Product, Technology) can be **held fractionally**. This is how Merge fills a gap rather than selling a service. A fractionally held seat requires all three of the following, written down at the time it is taken. A seat missing any of them is a retainer. 1. **Term.** The seat is held through Pursue. It does not continue past formation in fractional form. 2. **Conversion.** The position converts at Form. It does not convert to a monthly fee. 3. **Succession.** Recruiting the permanent holder of the seat is a named Form deliverable, owned by whoever is sitting in it. **Why this is written down rather than intended.** A retainer pays this month and equity might pay in five years. That pull is constant and each individual month of drift looks reasonable. The three conditions above make the discipline structural instead of a good intention. ## Government ethics, before anyone offers anyone anything A current federal employee, including a Guard or Reserve member in a duty status, generally cannot hold a financial interest in a company that sells to or is regulated by their own organization. The relevant authorities are 18 U.S.C. ยง 208 and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch at 5 CFR 2635. Rules also vary by component and by the person's specific position. **Default:** Problem Owner is a non-equity role. Do not offer equity, advisory shares, options, or deferred compensation to a serving government stakeholder. If a specific person seems like they should hold something, they clear it with their ethics counselor first and the venture gets it in writing before anything is issued. This protects them more than it protects the venture. ## Splits Default splits by role belong in the Form Agreement. They are published once and then not renegotiated per deal. The Form Agreement is not yet published. Until it is, Pursue assigns roles without assigning numbers. ## Changelog - **1.0** (2026-10-01) First published version.