Comment by jeromec

Wow, Jacques, it doesn't sound like you feel much that "Fred" basically stole a bunch of money from you. You explain that you didn't have a contract drawn up, and that Fred's justification for not sharing proceeds from the company sale was that, after all, it was his money invested. I'm sorry, but if money invested was the only determinant factor in a company's success VC's would simply produce hits every week. Also, you may still feel some misplaced guilt/responsibility/loyalty to that venture, even in hindsight, but to me, looking at it as an outsider, it appears you contributed around 80% of the overall value to that company. Even Fred wasn't delusional enough to believe the company wouldn't crash and burn without you. You also say Fred was the "driving force" of the company. Yeah, sure, but he was riding on top of you doing the driving. This was a great and graphic story, and I'm glad you choose to look at the benefits of knowledge you took away from it, but man, that Fred seems a real charlatan/a-hole.