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Kytch built a device that gave the ice cream machines remote debugging. They sold them to franchises. McDonalds got weird about this and told franchises that th
by daenz 5y ago
Kytch built a device that gave the ice cream machines remote debugging. They sold them to franchises. McDonalds got weird about this and told franchises that they weren't safe, and that they've got a new ice cream machines that already has that feature. Then McDonalds reached out to other companies and said not to use the startup's device. The startup wants $900M because "that's what we would've been worth" if McDonalds hadn't scared everybody off.
It sounds like Kytch wants to be a legal thorn in McDonald's side until they are paid off. How can a startup afford this? Do they work out some agreement with lawyers to only pay when they win?
- gorkish 5y ago> How can a startup afford this? Do they work out some agreement with lawyers to only pay when they win? On a case like this it's probably even more sophisticated than that; they probably ran a process where many law firms pitched to represent them and competed on their contingency fees.
- bombcar 5y agoYep, lawyers can take cases on either for a small fee + percentage of any settlement, or even just entirely on the chance of a win. The hope is to threaten McDonalds for a billion dollars (pinky) and get a settlement for a few million out of court and wrap things up quietly. Happens more often than you'd like.
- malka 5y ago> Then McDonalds reached out to other companies and said not to use the startup's device. Seems justified to me though. Maybe not legally, but I would too be motivated to annoy McDonalds in their situation.