Quitting and leaving is an OPTION. Realize that doing the right thing in a difficult situation will cause you immediate discomfort and probably scare you more

Quitting and leaving is an OPTION. Realize that doing the right thing in a difficult situation will cause you immediate discomfort and probably scare you more than you like. Realize options that you fear the most are probably the best for you. You must have some sort of contract between yourself and the company or the founders. If there isn't a contract, or it's a bad one, then it becomes interesting from the standpoint of IP ownership. How your shares are tied to the IP ownership is what you want to concentrate on as it is your lever to get what you want. If you find the founders are being unreasonable, use any and all means to defend your dilution up to the point it equals an equitable dilution of all shares by all stake holders. Don't make blaming statements to the founders, clearly state what you want for yourself in terms of ownership, then go get an attorney and have them look at the documentation. After they give you an opinion on it, prepare yourself for the worst outcome and then restate what you want for yourself again to the founders. If they don't agree, be prepared to make the hard decision. Best of luck to you!