I see no reason whatsoever to suppose this guy was an asshole. He may have been mistaken about what he could bring to the table to be a part of this startup, bu

I see no reason whatsoever to suppose this guy was an asshole. He may have been mistaken about what he could bring to the table to be a part of this startup, but that doesn't make one an asshole. As 'wheels' says in another comment: he did some work and now that there is money, he thinks it is reasonable he gets some payment for that work. The amount he asked for is reasonable as well.