TheSpoon
Jedi
I wondered if I could ask the forum for some advice about a potential friend/business situation that's arising for me?
My wife (L) has a male friend (G) who is in project management. One day last year the three of us were talking about me wanting to build a website and looking for a "killer idea" for it. G said he had such an idea and after some negotiation he explained it to me. L later agreed that it was genuinely original and could be a winner.
G and I had a meeting where we tried to come to some sort of agreement about who's going to own this. G's main thing was that he wanted to retain "control" of the project - he wants it to be "his". His input is the main ideas (for it consists of several related websites), giving feedback on how things are looking and ... I don't know, he's not technical, so his contribution would be thinking rather than hours at the coal face of website creation.
We came up with a fairly complex arrangement whereby I'd do the work and clock up "billable hours". Then whatever money we make, I'd pay myself from that, then G would (subsequently) pay himself the same amount and then after that we'd split it 30% (me) : 70% him. He also wanted to be able to buy me out, use alternative programmers and that the "product" would belong to him.
I explained this to L who said it was utterly ridiculous and that I should be on the 70% and he should be on 30 since I'm doing all the work and taking all the risk - ie not doing any other paid work at the time, while G continues doing his day job apart from a few sessions of reviewing my work and telling me it's not how he wants it - and I can picture that happening quite clearly. G is quite a forceful character...I don't think compromise comes easily to him. I don't consider myself to be a very good negotiator...L drives a much harder bargain that I do.
I should say that I'm going to have some free time on my hands anyway at this point, I'm not quitting a job to work on this.
We had a subsequent meeting where I feed back that I thought his main need was to have control over the project and that - since the money coming in was of secondary importance - we should simplify things so that we split the money 50/50 but guaranteed that he was the "owner" of what was created and that we followed his "vision" for it. But it turns out I'd read that wrong and that really, he's focused on this thing being 100% his and that really he'd just be waiting for his 70% to rack up enough to buy me out entirely.
Hmm, now that I'm writing this all out, it's all starting to look like a case of "Never mix business and pleasure". But there is still a good idea there, and it would be a shame for it to have to be All (for G) or Nothing. He's never going to be in a position to pay someone to develop this so he could own it outright. Also, this would take 2 years of my life to build, I'd be heavily invested in it. I don't think I'd be able to just hand that over to someone - especially if they're not paying me out of their own pocket.
Comments, suggestions?
I thought I'd write to him about it since then I'm not affected by the force of his personality - or perhaps it would be good training for me to stand up to him. But that doesn't sound like a good start to a partnership now does it?
EDIT:
I asked the IChing for commentary on the situation and it came back with 9 - Hsiao Ch'u / The Taming Power of the Small
Above SUN THE GENTLE, WIND
Below CH'IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
and the 5th line changing:
If you are sincere and loyally attached,
You are rich in your neighbor.
Loyalty leads to firm ties because it means that each partner complements the other. In the weaker person loyalty consists in devotion, in the stronger it consists in trustworthiness. This relation of mutual reinforcement leads to a true wealth that is all the more apparent because it is not selfishly hoarded but is shared with friends. Pleasure shared is pleasure doubled.
My wife (L) has a male friend (G) who is in project management. One day last year the three of us were talking about me wanting to build a website and looking for a "killer idea" for it. G said he had such an idea and after some negotiation he explained it to me. L later agreed that it was genuinely original and could be a winner.
G and I had a meeting where we tried to come to some sort of agreement about who's going to own this. G's main thing was that he wanted to retain "control" of the project - he wants it to be "his". His input is the main ideas (for it consists of several related websites), giving feedback on how things are looking and ... I don't know, he's not technical, so his contribution would be thinking rather than hours at the coal face of website creation.
We came up with a fairly complex arrangement whereby I'd do the work and clock up "billable hours". Then whatever money we make, I'd pay myself from that, then G would (subsequently) pay himself the same amount and then after that we'd split it 30% (me) : 70% him. He also wanted to be able to buy me out, use alternative programmers and that the "product" would belong to him.
I explained this to L who said it was utterly ridiculous and that I should be on the 70% and he should be on 30 since I'm doing all the work and taking all the risk - ie not doing any other paid work at the time, while G continues doing his day job apart from a few sessions of reviewing my work and telling me it's not how he wants it - and I can picture that happening quite clearly. G is quite a forceful character...I don't think compromise comes easily to him. I don't consider myself to be a very good negotiator...L drives a much harder bargain that I do.
I should say that I'm going to have some free time on my hands anyway at this point, I'm not quitting a job to work on this.
We had a subsequent meeting where I feed back that I thought his main need was to have control over the project and that - since the money coming in was of secondary importance - we should simplify things so that we split the money 50/50 but guaranteed that he was the "owner" of what was created and that we followed his "vision" for it. But it turns out I'd read that wrong and that really, he's focused on this thing being 100% his and that really he'd just be waiting for his 70% to rack up enough to buy me out entirely.
Hmm, now that I'm writing this all out, it's all starting to look like a case of "Never mix business and pleasure". But there is still a good idea there, and it would be a shame for it to have to be All (for G) or Nothing. He's never going to be in a position to pay someone to develop this so he could own it outright. Also, this would take 2 years of my life to build, I'd be heavily invested in it. I don't think I'd be able to just hand that over to someone - especially if they're not paying me out of their own pocket.
Comments, suggestions?
I thought I'd write to him about it since then I'm not affected by the force of his personality - or perhaps it would be good training for me to stand up to him. But that doesn't sound like a good start to a partnership now does it?
EDIT:
I asked the IChing for commentary on the situation and it came back with 9 - Hsiao Ch'u / The Taming Power of the Small
Above SUN THE GENTLE, WIND
Below CH'IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
and the 5th line changing:
If you are sincere and loyally attached,
You are rich in your neighbor.
Loyalty leads to firm ties because it means that each partner complements the other. In the weaker person loyalty consists in devotion, in the stronger it consists in trustworthiness. This relation of mutual reinforcement leads to a true wealth that is all the more apparent because it is not selfishly hoarded but is shared with friends. Pleasure shared is pleasure doubled.