I'm not sure if it was a "show" versus "tell", but the biggest insight came at the start. Someone who steals from his last company to create a new one isn't go

I'm not sure if it was a "show" versus "tell", but the biggest insight came at the start. Someone who steals from his last company to create a new one isn't going to treat people well. They're appropriators (or looters) rather than creators. They see value as a zero sum game and try to keep it all to themselves. People rarely sell only half their soul, and one sign of an ethics violation is usually a sign of many. So while one moral of the story is "Get your equity in writing", another more important one is "Don't do busy with shady people." All that said, it sounds like the author got good experience and wisdom out of it. Building a foreign technical subsidiary is great for the resume. Learning the pitfalls of dealing with unethical people is great for the next one.