I need some advice... I started a tech company with two other guys. I came up with the idea, the entire concept, built it, managed clients, even did creative services, but my main partner had the money and the relationships with investors. Now I'm being forced out and my stock has been reduced. We were a little company with big prospects. And I believe the company will do well in the future because I believe in my ideas and where the company is today. So, now I have the issue of our shoddy paperwork and vesting timeline etc. He's trying to leave me with nothing. Real snake. In fact he forced me out a week after I quit my full-time job to work here full time. Also, a week after getting upset I took my lunch break to help feed the homeless (actually, literally true). Here's my question: what do I do? I could bury my former company in legal fees and fight for my full shares, or settle for less than what I have earned. How do I get what I'm owed without destroying the company I helped build? #tech #stock #founder #options #legal
...and, Walter White’s story.
I didn't even think about that, but yes, it's a lot like that. I will not be selling drugs to pay for my chemo/family after I'm dead... I am considering my options though...
Start a competitor
Lawyer up, even if you decide not to go down the legal route. Your partner seems pretty shitty, so simply walking away might not be the end of him trying to get his way over you.
Sabotage the tech
Talk to a lawyer dude..what exactly do you think random people on blind can do apart from asking you to talk to a lawyer?
I don't know. This is my first post. I'm gathering information, which means getting as many differing opinions and plausible solutions as possible. Then I will build a strategy out of the best options and any additional strategies I may come up with.
It’s actually pretty common. You f#’ed up by giving up the control of your board or not vetting your investors before taking their money... Many investors believe that ALL founders are worth pushing out and replaced by their hired guns, as long as they not critical to the business. So, a few more questions to help you navigate this: 1. Are you able to assemble the board votes of, or have majority interest of 51% to fire the board at once? You must do it before the employment termination letter is mailed to your residence. (Your equity with the voting rights is valid as long as it’s are not terminated with your employment and released back to the equity pool). Typically, 24-48 hours from the time of being notified verbally. 2. Is there a triple trigger in your offer? 3. Is **all** IP reassigned to the company (creative, libs)? Naturally, some can be rewritten like the creative, however hb any other critical system components or processes not captured by the IP reassignment agreements? 4. Do you have any other leverage to prevent their next VC investments, do a significant disruption to the business operations e.g. customer contracts? If you answered “No” to 1-3, you have No Strong leverage. Use #4 to negotiate a better exit offer. If you also answered “No” to #4, you have Zero leverage. Your only option is to negotiate by applying to their fears and reasons: A. If you incurred any business-related expenses which the company failed to reimburse (eg travel or cloud costs), it must reimburse you for them by the employment law. Threaten to sue to get these back. B. If you really believe that the equity is worth the effort and money, hire an attorney from a reputable firm to shake up and scare your “weaker” partners or critical employees. Nobody wants to work for a startup with an unclear path to the exit, especially if there is a pending litigation by one of the company founders. In turn, they will likely put a lot of pressure on the management and the board to keep you quiet and give you a better exit offer. It will likely cost you $3-7k. C. If one of your co-founders stole from you more than $500 in value and you can prove it (e.g. an outbound bank transfer), you can file the police report at your local police station. The police is too busy to do anything about it, but it allows you to press charges and have your co-founders either face a Felony conviction or submit to your demands. HYGIENE: if you shared any bank accounts, github, gMail or other cloud passwords with your founders, this is the time to change them, IF they don’t belong to the company (see #C). Good luck!
Definitely talk to a lawyer first. Well first you need to find one, of course. You need a real nasty one.
Get your lawyer to review the signed agreements you have. Simple. Sometimes the act of getting a lawyer involved sends an signal and people tend to stop playing games. But if you don’t have signed agreements to cover all these situations then you screwed up. But what does feeding the homeless have to do with this story?
*Waves in friendly neighborhood lawyer.* Yea. Unless there is a reason you DON’T want to hold them accountable for their trash behavior, plenty of law firms that would be glad to fight for you. Your local state bar can even refer you to a good fit.
Steve Jobs story