Hot answers tagged partnerships
16
This is hard to write an answer to, really. On the face of it, going by what you describe, yes it would seem that you're in the hands of a predator.
Clearly, since you and your husband are talking about the business partner in these terms, there is a problem. If nothing else, then there is a loss of trust so severe that it threatens the business.
You must ...
14
How about this.
I agree that you have put in a lot of effort and got it the required traction while others just drifted.
Now give it another couple more months. Let others put in their effort too(for marketing, sales, advert) and help take it to the next level.
But before you do that, be upfront in telling everyone that its their time now to add their ...
12
Yeah the key bit is to get in the agreement early what the KPIs are going to be.
When nothing moves on their side continously between meetings.
When you can't agree on the direction of the company.
When you aren't spending the majoirty of your time together, and it isn't because sales are pulling you apart.
When everything else is more important.
When all ...
10
These partnerships never quite work out. Even if you can get a deal with a company like Valupak, which isn't too likely, they don't care about you, and they can't really make you successful.
When faced with a chicken & egg problem, you have to find a way to sell simultaneously to both sides of the equation. You need to find local small businesses that ...
9
It is a common misconception of entrepreneurs that control flows from owning a majority of the stock.
Stock ownership and control are separate and independent.
Control is determined by the legal documents you draw up when you form the company. The most important documents are the company bylaws, which determine how the company operates, and the shareholder ...
7
Define what you and the developer are going to do, time commitment, paying costs, and property ownership.
If you plan on maintaining a full-time job somewhere else while you just toss random thoughts like, "You know what would be cool" at a developer working 80+ hrs a week on this project, you may have to give up more than 50%. On the other hand, if you ...
7
I could be all wet here, but I don't think you should. Partners should not be just for getting investors, they are mostly to get you to where you want to be - and you are mostly there already. I think you should look at it as an advantage - that you have the flexibility to bring people in when they are needed.
7
First, have the difficult conversation of asking if your partner is still interested in the business or not. If so, what is the issue? Is the partner's abilities stretched? Are there roadblocks in the business or outside? Differences of priorities/opinions? Are you in the one who is in the wrong and are under-evaluating your partner? This is a conversation ...
7
In short...
50:50 indicates the founders want to retain some reasonable chance of staying friends with a good working relationship.
51:49 indicates that one or other needs to be in control and it will end messily.
Distributing equity is as much about feeling fair as being fair, so fighting for a minor difference is really not worth the effort when (not ...
7
If I were him I would not assign it either.
One thing he can do is grant a non-transferable license that allows you/your company to use the framework but you can't modify, sell or re-assign that license or the framework to any other entity.
He should probably get compensation for that as well. For two reasons:
it is only fair
if it ever comes up ...
7
Well the advice would generally be to not get started until you have this situation worked out - as in - what will we do if someone leaves?
The general way to handle that is everyone starts off with shares of the company - you said it was an equal split so, let's say there were 900k shares, everyone would have 300k. The shares are valued at something like ...
6
These kind of deals are actually common when doing business internationality. Some of the Pros and Cons include:
Pros
Investment from another company does not dilute your company
The deal is separate and therefore failure is more manageable
The investing company does not control your company
More focus on building the business as opposed to funding an ...
6
Yes you need an agreement, no it doesn't have to be written by a lawyer (yet).
The fact that the business and product is in flux, that there's no business plan, that you both have no prior experience -- none of that bothers me in the slightest. Sounds like most startups, both the successful and unsuccessful ones.
What does bother me is that he's not ...
6
I've posted an ad on Craigslist and
got a few bites, but nothing that was
serious or wasn't just an
advertisement for a development
company.company.
That's because you don't sound serious. You want someone to work for free, on the promise that you might make money - because why? Because you are footing the bill for some hardware? Hardware is ...
6
If you are pitching a VC, then team is important. More important than that is what you built and can it make money.
A VC will want you to build out your team quickly and might even provide team members for you.
One thing you should look at is why your partners left. They will certainly ask that question.
The real advantage of more team members, at this ...
6
You should consider a Startup Weekend. They bring together the actual production side, the management (sales and administration) and financial sides of business.
They are cheap to participate in and potentially help you access great people.
6
You have good questions listed already but I would add a few more and take some of these out. Take out #4, as Equity doesn't have anything to do with your further career but work is, so you can definitely put this on your Resume.
I would rephrase #3 to be: What are your expectations? The hours will be determined based on that.
Change #2 to: Will there be ...
6
do I need to formally declare that the old venture is null and void
Yes.
You will have to file Articles of Cancellation for the LLC in the state(s) that your LLC is registered in. If you don't file the Articles of Cancellation with the state, you'll still be required to pay any annual fees and taxes required by the state to do business in that state, ...
6
I would draft up an agreement that outlines you are leaving "XYZ.com" and that your friend has 100% of XYZ.com can keep the domain, the website etc. It's 100% his. The outline would also say you are welcome to pursue this concept and market with a new company in the future if you want with no obligation to your friend or XYZ.com for any royalties, ownership ...
5
You can try offering some stores an initial trial period at no cost, at the end of which you would hopefully have built up a customer base, using those stores to promote yourself. So if you were thinking about charging stores $100 per week to be listed, then you could waive that fee for the first 2 months to try you out. At the end of that time, if you ...
5
It sounds like you're trying to reinvent something which has already been invented, called vesting.
For tax reasons you don't want to be giving people additional equity as time goes on. Right now, your company is not worth very much, so when you give someone a lot of equity, there is no tax implication. However next year your company may be worth quite a ...
5
Yes you can list BIZSPARK in your partner list.
They even offer a set of logo here : http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/Startup/DownloadLogos.aspx (you will have to log in)
However is is explicitly prohibited to list microsoft as a partner if you are only part of Bizspark (in the agreement you signed when you enrolled).
5
That sounds easy enough: aim for progressive transition.
Month 1-2: you own 100%, you have sole access to the bank account. See how your potential partner performs.
Month 3: formalize a compensation structure now that you are happy with your partner. Keep control of bank account
Month 6: if you are still happy and trust is in place, release progressive ...
5
Very similar points, just expressed a different way:
One feels and acts like they're in charge (in an equal partnership/split)
When you dread their number coming up on caller ID
When one doesn't want to deviate from the "dream" when the market is telling you loud and clear to change direction
When a job starts to seem desirable
When you have to leave ...
5
Do they have the anti-delution clause themselves?
If so the short answer is: No, it's not really fair. To get further investment in the company you all gain the benefits.
These numbers are just plucked out of the air so don't focus on the numbers.
Regarding your less interest. Lets say the company is currently worth 1 mil and you have a 10% share in it. ...
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