[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How to deal with co-founder betrayal
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       Ask HN: How to deal with co-founder betrayal
        
       I designed and built a product and put together a kick ass
       engineering team of 4 people. My business partners handle sales and
       put the majority of the cash in, leaving me with stake of around
       30%. Four weeks away from signing a multimillion contract, my co-
       founders issued a cash call, claiming I am subject to a compulsory
       share transfer clause. They give the company a premoney valuation
       of zero, and as a defaulting shareholder I should get 50%0 of fair
       value... Aka here's "140k leave now, and you have no choice about
       it". I managed to convince a lawyer to help, and she's willing to
       do it without charge - after going through the shareholders
       agreement it's pretty clear that their argument doesn't hold up.
       But... How to handle this situation? Especially going forward with
       regard to audits etc. as I no longer trust these guys at all
        
       Author : diamondage
       Score  : 10 points
       Date   : 2022-11-20 21:39 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
       | mannyv wrote:
       | Well at least they tried to screw your up front instead of
       | stealing all the money like my business guy did. Motherfucker.
       | And he was a ranger too.
        
       | edmundsauto wrote:
       | Get what you can and get out. If you care about bringing the full
       | product to market, accept that you might need to take less to
       | avoid any clauses limiting your future work.
       | 
       | Depending on the maturity of the company, there are a few
       | different bits of value. Some you can take with you - your
       | product vision - and now build in a linear path towards what
       | brings value. Some things (IP) you won't be able to. But the real
       | value in a company is the existing customers and PMF - if the
       | company is still relatively young, the value you have moving
       | forward is significant.
       | 
       | So just build yourself back up and move on. Try not to hold hate
       | in your heart, it will only set you back. Take care of your
       | mental health, be kind to yourself, and figure out what you would
       | be doing next without worrying about what they're doing - that is
       | for your attorney to handle.
        
         | toomuchtodo wrote:
         | Solid advice. Can probably take the engineering team with too
         | if they can get funding on top of whatever cash comp they're
         | able to walk away with. Partners showed who they are, believe
         | them the first time and don't throw good effort over spent.
         | Build your own.
        
         | spuz wrote:
         | This is great advice. Perhaps not very satisfying in the short
         | term but definitely the right thing to do in the long term.
        
       | wmf wrote:
       | Either you (possibly backed by new investors) buy them out or
       | they buy you out.
        
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       (page generated 2022-11-20 23:01 UTC)