121–130 of 435 posts
Can I give you some advice that really sucks? Walk away. It's not fair, but starting a company isn't like getting a job. It's a relationship and a risk that doesn't always work out. Sometimes you find more money and success than you could ever dream of, and other times you waste 11 months. Here's my thought process. You and your cofounder aren't going to be able to work together after this. The company has no money a…
Can I give you some advice that really sucks? Walk away. It's not fair, but starting a company isn't like getting a job. It's a relationship and a risk that doesn't always work out. Sometimes you find more money and success than you could ever dream of, and other times you waste 11 months. Here's my thought process. You and your cofounder aren't going to be able to work together after this. The company has no money a…
I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous advice.
I'd say first things first. You have 11 months and a one year cliff. Find a way to stall for a month and your position gets much stronger. This is a great environment to find a way to stall. Tell your co-founder to write up a proposal so that you can have a lawyer look at it. That's easy to turn into a month of stalling.
The reason this is happening right now is because the other founder is well aware of that cliff and losing 10% going forward.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a new startup, I'd assume that the technical co-founder is doing a lot of maintenance and automation to keep everything running smoothly. Why not let something break, and then they'd have a stronger negotiation position? I can't imagine (but would be very impressed with tech co-founder) if a year old system could run without any maintenance for a month. Seems also unlikely that tech co-founder could be replaced fa…
> Why not let something break Because this is the professional equivalent of shitting in your hand and throwing it at the wall? The fact that an adult would suggest abdicating any professionalism and just letting a site with 60k users and investment backing start to break to prove a point is astounding.
This isn't sabotage, it's a labor strike until an equitable agreement is found.
Can I give you some advice that really sucks? Walk away. It's not fair, but starting a company isn't like getting a job. It's a relationship and a risk that doesn't always work out. Sometimes you find more money and success than you could ever dream of, and other times you waste 11 months. Here's my thought process. You and your cofounder aren't going to be able to work together after this. The company has no money a…
I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous advice.
Can I give you some advice that really sucks? Walk away. It's not fair, but starting a company isn't like getting a job. It's a relationship and a risk that doesn't always work out. Sometimes you find more money and success than you could ever dream of, and other times you waste 11 months. Here's my thought process. You and your cofounder aren't going to be able to work together after this. The company has no money a…
I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous advice.
You own that equity even if you are not employed there.
Hang onto it ..... there's no reason you should be bullied out of it.
I've seen this situation come up a number of times. It's just bullying.... there's no legal reason for you to give up your stake.
Go watch "The Social Network" movie.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Basically: Were you negligent? Assuming you weren't, it's very strange to force someone out right before their equity vests. Basically, your lawyer can understand the situation better than an internet message board can. Then, a phone call from your lawyer to your co-founder could help make your co-founder become a lot more reasonable.
> it's very strange to force someone out right before their equity vests If the business-minded folk don't fully value the tech solution I can easily see this happening. This "devil's advocate" hypothetical is not an unheard of occurrence.
If this is the case, (and we don't know the details,) it means that the other founder was acting in bad faith. Hopefully the threat of a lawsuit is enough to solve the situation.
Can I give you some advice that really sucks? Walk away. It's not fair, but starting a company isn't like getting a job. It's a relationship and a risk that doesn't always work out. Sometimes you find more money and success than you could ever dream of, and other times you waste 11 months. Here's my thought process. You and your cofounder aren't going to be able to work together after this. The company has no money a…
Can I give you some advice that really sucks? Walk away. It's not fair, but starting a company isn't like getting a job. It's a relationship and a risk that doesn't always work out. Sometimes you find more money and success than you could ever dream of, and other times you waste 11 months. Here's my thought process. You and your cofounder aren't going to be able to work together after this. The company has no money a…