It's not a fun situation, but there's an obvious answer: come to grips with the fact that the idea is valuable. More specifically, it is just as valuable as you

It's not a fun situation, but there's an obvious answer: come to grips with the fact that the idea is valuable. More specifically, it is just as valuable as you and the rest of the world make it. Negotiate. If there is a project you really want to be involved in because the other person has a really great idea, then you should be prepared to let that person keep more of the company and, by the same token, accept a smaller share for your own work. Think of the opportunity to be involved at all as its own form of compensation. By contrast, of course, many ideas will be only somewhat interesting. In cases like that, it makes sense to value your time more highly in comparison to the idea and be prepared to walk away if the idea guy wants too big a piece of the pie.