5 ms·

I had my second company stolen. Also, bonus office scandal

8 points by nubela 7y ago

kirillzubovsky 7y ago
I wouldn't call it stolen. If we are to believe the article, the founder was naive, and gave it away. The co-founder had definitely played a part in taking it, but it takes two to tango.
- iamcreasy 7y ago
  > A few days later, he gave me documents to sign over all my equity and gave me half of what the company had in the bank. Agreed. That's what I get from the article as well.
  - slightwinder 7y ago
    Cash is not the most valuable asset of a company. In this case he lost the clients and a valuable worker, which his partner took from him. Could be considered as stealing, but we don't know the other side.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- soniman 7y ago
  It wasn't stolen it was ransomed. Half the money in the till was probably a fraction of the value of the company.
  - stephen_g 7y ago
    That's still debatable. I assume there was probably more to it, but from the post it doesn't sound like they really tried to work out the differences of opinion about contribution, work hours etc. - sounds more like he just snapped one day and made a bad decision. Clearly he also had a bit of an over-inflated ego, believing he was so important to the company that it would collapse without him when it sounds like it was actually able to be a sustainable business (from the other founder "enjoying the recurring revenue for years"). So if they had been able to communicate and work out their differences it sounds like he could have chilled out and worked less if he wanted also...
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
alecco 7y ago
All avoidable if he consulted a competent lawyer early on.
- marcus_holmes 7y ago
  The lawyer could solve the technical issues of how to split the company up (or not). But the real issue is the relationship between the founders. The business is screwed because these two people don't get on any more, and the business requires them to get on. Even a really competent lawyer can't solve that.
  - qtplatypus 7y ago
    When reading your comment I realised that working out how to manage distributing shared property between two people is basically the task of a divorse lawyer. Which makes me think are there equiverlents of marriage counclers for business partners.
    - marcus_holmes 7y ago
      interesting question. The closest I've seen to this is a professional chairman. I was on a board for a few years with a VC-appointed professional chairman, and he was really good with managing the relationships between the founders, VC's and executive team.
throwaway2019Z 7y ago
There was no "stealing" whatsoever, OP got tilted by his slacker partner (understandable) and undersold his shares of the company. As a general rule, I never do business with friends or family: 1) If things go poorly, you risk losing both. 2) If things go well, you still risk losing both.
Traster 7y ago
Willingly choosing to leave your company because you don't like how your 50:50 partner is behaving is not 'losing' your company. It's giving it away. Let's face it as well, in any small startup, losing 1 of your founders is often the death knell. Especially if you're going to walk off with half the money. It doesn't sound like the company he left really lasted long after he left - it's got a website with no updates since 2015. This article also shows a real lack of self-reflection and judgment. There are lots of lessons from this story and 'have more equity than your partner' is not the most important one. Thousands of startups fail because of inter-founder dynamics, there's lots of interesting stuff to talk about there. But if your approach to that is 'have 51% and vote my founder out', then your attitude is wrong. Also, don't spread gossip on the internet about your cofounders! Now anyone who you consider partnering with in the future knows that if things don't work out, you're at risk of spilling their personal lives on the internet. I know that would be a red flag for me.
aflag 7y ago
It doesn't sound like it was stolen. It seems just a bad breakup. Kian started to have other priorities in life besides his own company. I've been in a similar position, I quit and I wasn't so melodramatic about it. Ironically, Steve Goh, the blogger, calls himself "the lazy CEO". I guess he wasn't match for an even lazier one.
tpetry 7y ago
Agreeing to leave with 50% of the banks cash amount may or may not be a good deal for him. I guess the second. Much better to discuss something based on the expected 1-2 years revenue.
nubela 7y ago
Guys, don't take this too seriously. I am over it now and have been for a long time (> 5 years?). This was one of the earliest stories (failures?) I had, and it is just one of the daily posts that I write to tell stories about my journey.
- akerl_ 7y ago
  You posted a picture of your cofounder as part of a story that frames them as a thief. And the lesson you learned amounts to “never trust somebody with 50% of a joint venture”. People don’t seem to be taking things “too seriously”, you’ve posted your thoughts and people are giving you honest feedback on them.
  - tomohawk 7y ago
    As a general rule, partnerships are very risky and should be avoided, and this story illustrates that.
qtplatypus 7y ago
One of the things I noticed was how much he undervalued having lunch with the team. He says its mindless chatter. However your staff are stakeholders in your product and you need to support them. Also in any workplace the informal communication channels are far more effective then formal ones.

8 points by nubela 7y ago

I wouldn't call it stolen. If we are to believe the article, the founder was naive, and gave it away. The co-founder had definitely played a part in taking it, but it takes two to tango.

iamcreasy 7y ago
> A few days later, he gave me documents to sign over all my equity and gave me half of what the company had in the bank. Agreed. That's what I get from the article as well.
- slightwinder 7y ago
  Cash is not the most valuable asset of a company. In this case he lost the clients and a valuable worker, which his partner took from him. Could be considered as stealing, but we don't know the other side.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
soniman 7y ago
It wasn't stolen it was ransomed. Half the money in the till was probably a fraction of the value of the company.
- stephen_g 7y ago
  That's still debatable. I assume there was probably more to it, but from the post it doesn't sound like they really tried to work out the differences of opinion about contribution, work hours etc. - sounds more like he just snapped one day and made a bad decision. Clearly he also had a bit of an over-inflated ego, believing he was so important to the company that it would collapse without him when it sounds like it was actually able to be a sustainable business (from the other founder "enjoying the recurring revenue for years"). So if they had been able to communicate and work out their differences it sounds like he could have chilled out and worked less if he wanted also...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

alecco 7y ago

All avoidable if he consulted a competent lawyer early on.

marcus_holmes 7y ago
The lawyer could solve the technical issues of how to split the company up (or not). But the real issue is the relationship between the founders. The business is screwed because these two people don't get on any more, and the business requires them to get on. Even a really competent lawyer can't solve that.
- qtplatypus 7y ago
  When reading your comment I realised that working out how to manage distributing shared property between two people is basically the task of a divorse lawyer. Which makes me think are there equiverlents of marriage counclers for business partners.
  - marcus_holmes 7y ago
    interesting question. The closest I've seen to this is a professional chairman. I was on a board for a few years with a VC-appointed professional chairman, and he was really good with managing the relationships between the founders, VC's and executive team.

throwaway2019Z 7y ago

There was no "stealing" whatsoever, OP got tilted by his slacker partner (understandable) and undersold his shares of the company. As a general rule, I never do business with friends or family: 1) If things go poorly, you risk losing both. 2) If things go well, you still risk losing both.

Traster 7y ago

Willingly choosing to leave your company because you don't like how your 50:50 partner is behaving is not 'losing' your company. It's giving it away. Let's face it as well, in any small startup, losing 1 of your founders is often the death knell. Especially if you're going to walk off with half the money. It doesn't sound like the company he left really lasted long after he left - it's got a website with no updates since 2015. This article also shows a real lack of self-reflection and judgment. There are lots of lessons from this story and 'have more equity than your partner' is not the most important one. Thousands of startups fail because of inter-founder dynamics, there's lots of interesting stuff to talk about there. But if your approach to that is 'have 51% and vote my founder out', then your attitude is wrong. Also, don't spread gossip on the internet about your cofounders! Now anyone who you consider partnering with in the future knows that if things don't work out, you're at risk of spilling their personal lives on the internet. I know that would be a red flag for me.

aflag 7y ago

It doesn't sound like it was stolen. It seems just a bad breakup. Kian started to have other priorities in life besides his own company. I've been in a similar position, I quit and I wasn't so melodramatic about it. Ironically, Steve Goh, the blogger, calls himself "the lazy CEO". I guess he wasn't match for an even lazier one.

tpetry 7y ago

Agreeing to leave with 50% of the banks cash amount may or may not be a good deal for him. I guess the second. Much better to discuss something based on the expected 1-2 years revenue.

nubela 7y ago

Guys, don't take this too seriously. I am over it now and have been for a long time (> 5 years?). This was one of the earliest stories (failures?) I had, and it is just one of the daily posts that I write to tell stories about my journey.

akerl_ 7y ago
You posted a picture of your cofounder as part of a story that frames them as a thief. And the lesson you learned amounts to “never trust somebody with 50% of a joint venture”. People don’t seem to be taking things “too seriously”, you’ve posted your thoughts and people are giving you honest feedback on them.
- tomohawk 7y ago
  As a general rule, partnerships are very risky and should be avoided, and this story illustrates that.

qtplatypus 7y ago

One of the things I noticed was how much he undervalued having lunch with the team. He says its mindless chatter. However your staff are stakeholders in your product and you need to support them. Also in any workplace the informal communication channels are far more effective then formal ones.