Does a founder's share remain after they leave the work?
2026NowDeadline · Decision window: 24 days until the next investment negotiation
Realistic synthesis
The people, events, figures, and technology in this matter are stated assumptions. They are not to be treated as information about real individuals or as observed events. Background documents are separate sources, and symbolic interpretations are recorded as discovery paths.
The question to decide
The founder who built the first version of the product has left, and the two remaining founders, holding equal shares, must continue working for two years at low pay. Buying out the departing person's entire share would cut operating funds to less than half. How should the three agree on shares and roles so that both past contribution and future labor are recognized?
Who decidesThree co-founders
What the AI judgments chose
Reading the judgment record…
The options
The order shown is not a ranking of preference.
The situation as it stands
The departing founder built the first version of the product, and current equity is split equally among three people. Decision deadline: 24 days until the next investment negotiation.
2026 fictional issue · One co-founder quits and keeps an equity stake. The people, organizations, figures, and events form a synthetic premise for comparison.
- Premise 1The departing founder built the first version of the product, and current equity is split equally among three people.
- Premise 2The two remaining people must carry on for two years at low pay, and an investor raised the difference between hands-on contribution and voting rights as a problem.
- Premise 3Buying out all the equity with company cash would cut operating funds to less than half.
Where it holdsEquity, roles, voting rights, and the departure agreement
What is still unknown
- Unknown 1The departure-related terms of the existing shareholder agreement
- Unknown 2The ceiling on cash outflow the company can bear
- Unknown 3The advisory role the departing founder will actually perform
Signals to decide again
- Decide what observation, owner, and confirmation window will verify "the departure-related terms of the existing shareholder agreement," and re-judge when a new confirmation changes the tradeoff of an option.
- Decide what observation, owner, and confirmation window will verify "the ceiling on cash outflow the company can bear," and re-judge when a new confirmation changes the tradeoff of an option.
- Decide what observation, owner, and confirmation window will verify "the advisory role the departing founder will actually perform," and re-judge when a new confirmation changes the tradeoff of an option.
Where the paths partNot answers — paths that part from the same starting point
The departing founder proposed delegating part of the voting rights while keeping the economic equity.
The investor allowed a structure that buys out at the next investment instead of an immediate buyout.
Material and rootsThe frame, the values and the background documents
Where is the continuity of a company rooted once its members, customers, and purpose have changed?
An exploratory perspective chosen by the creator. Does not claim supernatural validity or the superiority of any particular option.The benefits and costs of the options accrue to different stakeholders. Which loss to accept remains undecided.
A subject for the decision-maker to argue over; the materials carry no conclusion of their own.- OECD · SMEs and entrepreneurship accessed 2026-09-08
- ICA · Cooperative identity, values and principles accessed 2026-09-08
The record of this question
- Question
FSP-VENTURE-09· version 1.4.0- Content identity, SHA-256
942b9b6568e46771af014b5e17d9fae2f80f2862cb986f154a7114c5dd005f26- Input files
- Question input JSON · What followed, JSON