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CTO / cofounder exit deal after 1.5y at 600k revenue without SHA

CTO / cofounder exit deal after 1.5y at 600k revenue without SHA

11 points by biphasic 1 hour ago | hide | past | favorite | 2 comments

I co-founded a deeptech company in France 1.5 years ago with another founder. We both invested €30k initially. My co-founder, who has a business background and is CEO, owns 51% of the shares and has 2/3 of the voting rights, while I own 49% of the shares and hold 1/3 of the voting rights. I have a PhD in AI and serve as the CTO. We pay ourselves modest wages and currently employ three full-time staff, all of whom I recruited and manage.
The company generated €600k in revenue over the first 18 months through tenders and research services. There’s also potential for a €1.3m grant to be awarded in Q2 this year. Even though the company is doing well, I’ve decided to exit the company end of March for personal reasons: A breakdown in cofounder relationship, I can’t commit to relocating to France (I’m commuting from abroad), and I’m not happy with the recent pivot to the defence sector.
We don’t have significant IP yet because I spent most of my time writing proposals that generated revenue and developing prototypes for sectors that ultimately turned out not to have a substantial market for our tech.
My co-founder has offered to buy out 48% of my shares for €60k, allowing me to retain 1%. We don’t have a shareholders agreement so he could in theory dilute me by issuing new shares using company or investor money, although I could contest that in court. I’d rather move on though as I’m already looking for new roles where I currently live. I’m not interested in building a competitor.
Lawyers I talked to told me different things, one that worked a lot with startups told me that it’s a good deal, another one specialised in shareholder litigation told me I could squeeze the company dry.
Does this seem like a fair offer to you? What do I need to keep in mind in order not to lose my remaining equity after exit?


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The realistic wildlife fine art paintings and prints of Jacquie Vaux begin with a deep appreciation of wildlife and the environment. Jacquie Vaux grew up in the Pacific Northwest, soon developed an appreciation for nature by observing the native wildlife of the area. Encouraged by her grandmother, she began painting the creatures she loves and has continued for the past four decades. Now a resident of Ft. Collins, CO she is an avid hiker, but always carries her camera, and is ready to capture a nature or wildlife image, to use as a reference for her fine art paintings.

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