4 ms·
It sounds like the primary evidence supporting Guillory's claim is what they wrote on one question in their YC application (50:50 equity split). I don't know if
by jasonlaramburu 10y ago
It sounds like the primary evidence supporting Guillory's claim is what they wrote on one question in their YC application (50:50 equity split). I don't know if that would represent a legally-binding contract if the case had gone to court, since it doesn't reference any shares, corporate entity etc.
- BinaryIdiot 10y agoThe YC application isn't and doesn't need to be a contract. It was just another piece of evidence demonstrating the division of the company at the beginning. They also registered in Delaware as 50 / 50 split if I recall correctly and Guillory never signed any of the paperwork regarding limiting their shares.
- nostrademons 10y agoIIRC they had registered in Delaware as a Kyle = 100% split, and then never signed any paperwork after that. That's a very different situation.
- rayiner 10y agoYeah, the YC application is merely evidence of a contract rather than a contract itself, but it's pretty smoking gun evidence. Why would you write there is a 50-50 split on your YC application if it wasn't true?
- tptacek 10y agoWhat real company would continue to operate for years after someone with a 50% claim on the company had left after just a month or two of service?
- SilasX 10y agoIs it really unheard-of for an angel to hold such an equity stake and only advise for a month or so?
- tptacek 10y agoYes, I believe so.
- rayiner 10y agoWhat's puzzling to me is how they thought about it enough to put down the split in the YC app, but it didn't come up when they split up.
- tptacek 10y agoWhat am I missing? This seems not at all complex. The two believed, when they applied, that they'd share fates. They were quite wrong. Like most people, they didn't do all the paperwork to safeguard against later bad-faith claims after they parted ways.
- rayiner 10y agoI'm sure that's what happened, and I'm projecting my own paranoia. But it seems like it was kind of an acrimonious break-up, which would prompt some ass-covering.
- nihonde 10y agoIt says something about GM's due diligence skills (or their desperation to be seen as a player in self-driving cars) that they were even willing to talk to a company in this position.
- Animats 10y agoMicrosoft and Paul Allen? [1] (Not quite comparable, but similar. The consensus is that Allen leaving was good for Microsoft.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen#Microsoft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen#Microsoft
- vonklaus 10y agoI'm with tptacek, Allen put in 2 years of sweat equity, was friends with bill gates, teed up the company and then had to take a backseat because of illness. How could cruise Possibly have raised money if half the cap-table was subscribed already. Also, typically there is like a 1 year cliff, so I am not sure how that would even be possible.
- dragonwriter 10y ago> Yeah, the YC application is merely evidence of a contract rather than a contract itself Which is less of a distinction than one might think, since a signed contract document is just a very special piece of evidence (which invokes some special legal rules barring certain other evidence) of the existence and terms of a contract. A contract is a thing that exists in law as a result of particular interactions between the parties, anything you can present is, at best, evidence of the contract rather than the contract itself.
- SilasX 10y ago"Sufficiently advanced evidence of a contract is indistinguishable from the contract itself." :-p