4 ms·

I agree with this - just remember that under no circumstances should you give away equity of the company. Tell him that if he wants to own 50%, he has to pay 50

I agree with this - just remember that under no circumstances should you give away equity of the company. Tell him that if he wants to own 50%, he has to pay 50% of the costs as well. Tell him you're going to rapidly expand and ask him to commit $50-$100k (that you could easily seek from outside investors) or he's going to risk being diluted. I bet you he will change his tune.

hugh3 16y ago
Also, to be realistic having an antagonistic relationship between the two owners of the company is going to be poison. The other guy should understand this; if he owns half the company then hack_rohan is probably not going to be terribly keen on continuing to work on this company. But certainly the other founder is entitled to a lot more than a thousand dollars here (though there's some vagueness in the description). A good negotiating position might be to tell him he can have half the company or the $2000, and plan to get bid up on the $2000 side somewhat.
- unexpected 16y ago
  I'm not even sure how they would go about creating ownership in the company. An American can't be an individual investor in an Indian company. An Indian without a working visa can't have a startup in a US company. Ownership issues are convoluted, and would take way more money on lawyer fees to figure out. Everyone keeps bringing up US laws with regards to ownership, but remember that this is an INDIAN company, where different rules apply.
  - andreshb 16y ago
    You don't need a working visa, a visa, or to even set foot in the U.S. to be shareholder/owner of a U.S. company.
    - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
      That's true but Indian law is an absolute minefield, particularly for those not familiar with it. I have a former colleague who is still embroiled in a case that's been going on for over a decade. Jarndyce and Jarndyce anyone? It would take a brave soul indeed to get involved in that from abroad with relatively little at stake.

hugh3 16y ago

Also, to be realistic having an antagonistic relationship between the two owners of the company is going to be poison. The other guy should understand this; if he owns half the company then hack_rohan is probably not going to be terribly keen on continuing to work on this company. But certainly the other founder is entitled to a lot more than a thousand dollars here (though there's some vagueness in the description). A good negotiating position might be to tell him he can have half the company or the $2000, and plan to get bid up on the $2000 side somewhat.

unexpected 16y ago
I'm not even sure how they would go about creating ownership in the company. An American can't be an individual investor in an Indian company. An Indian without a working visa can't have a startup in a US company. Ownership issues are convoluted, and would take way more money on lawyer fees to figure out. Everyone keeps bringing up US laws with regards to ownership, but remember that this is an INDIAN company, where different rules apply.
- andreshb 16y ago
  You don't need a working visa, a visa, or to even set foot in the U.S. to be shareholder/owner of a U.S. company.
  - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
    That's true but Indian law is an absolute minefield, particularly for those not familiar with it. I have a former colleague who is still embroiled in a case that's been going on for over a decade. Jarndyce and Jarndyce anyone? It would take a brave soul indeed to get involved in that from abroad with relatively little at stake.