Startup LoungeJun 19, 2019
Undisclosedyesimphil

How do we solve this founder’s problem?

Let’s say we have 3 person A- One who visioned the idea and theme, B - A’s Colleague who is a friend and worked on A’s idea for the client & C - A’s Colleague who is a friend and worked on A’s idea for the client. Skills: A - Design and visualize concepts. B, C - Developers with same skill set who got the idea developed into a product. The product has an investor who A brought on board. A wants to quit and do full time on this. B & C can’t commit. B has a new offer and C needs to go back to school. They can only commit part time. Person A wants to take a full time salary for his commitment and pay half to B and C for their part time commitment. The product was launched and as of now the product has no sounding metrics to validate the idea. A believes he might pivot if need to. Person A also believes the equity should he 50/25/25 C is hesitant. What should person A do?

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Marqeta papaE Jun 19, 2019

Easy, cut out C and it’s now 75 / 25

Marqeta lil_zucky2 Jun 19, 2019

You mean cut out C and make damn sure they can't come back and sue for A doing that

BYTON fffeva Jun 19, 2019

Those who cannot commit full-time should not take it equity.

Flexport qazxnmlp Jun 19, 2019

Be fair and treat people well. (Also hire an experienced lawyer. It’ll reframe this entire conversation.)

Undisclosed
qtNu08 Jun 20, 2019

It sounds like A is non-technical with B, C being the technical “founders/builders”. I’d spin this around and say if B, C had the ability to build this part time what stops them from leaving and building this out on their own and stay part time and own 100%. The only problem I see here is with part time developers is the momentum truly going to increase if A is full time or part time? Sounds like having B, C exit (or heavily diluting) might be better as it frees up the equity to bring on people full time to fuel that momentum between product+dev. Is there any real value in B, C being there part time is the real question

Flexport Vin Jul 6, 2019

It seems like person A would become the CEO and is the one who would control investor relationships. From my experience, person A will eventually grow frustrated / resentment at B and C for lack of commitment (even if B and C have no other choice). I would advise A to give B and C a nominal amount and move on. Join YC or something and find fully committed technical cofounder(s). I’m guessing founders B and C have invested at most one year of their lives into the company - it really is not that much. Building a successful company and taking it to a real exit is a 10 year journey, full of sacrifice. Founders B and C, be happy that you get anything at all, and dont grab as much equity as you can - set founder A up for success so he/she can take it the rest of the way. Also, all of this is moot if you do not have product market fit.