Re:Saving a Project and a Company
by lifeisstillgood on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @06:18PM
(#8817316)
I'm in an odd position of trying to form something like this (focused specifically on python development in finance). 2015 is hopefully going to be a good year - I actually have sort-of backing and if I can find time it might take off (god, just reading those caveats makes me wonder)
Anyway - I would be interested in any thoughts or traps to avoid - if indeed we are talking about the same structures.
Do drop me a line (contact details in profile)
Like in coding, complexity in a business partnership might be a warning. The book Managing the Professional Service Firm by David Meister has a lot of lessons for anyone running a traditional parter/associates firm, and the last part talks about splitting the profits. My read is that a "dumb" approach (equal split or simple seniority-based) is okay, and a "judgment" approach (publish criteria, but have a committee make the final decisions) is okay, but a metrics-based approach is risky. I agree, and for small operations I think the simpler the better. Anyway, if it's something you're thinking about, the book is a solid, meaty read.
ok, I'll do that tomorrow. 1:44 am now, bedtime for me.
Yeah, maybe just consulting? I dunno. Getting paid would be nice, I usually just have an investor-type relationship.
> I usually just have an investor-type relationship.
Then in a way you do get paid (eventually, I hope...).
> Yeah, maybe just consulting?
That's one way to keep it simple.
But there has to be a better way, especially because the nicest flowers grow at the edge of the abyss.
Then necessarily that requires taking risk. Do you want shares in the companies that get to the point where they need a your help?
That really is the key question isn't it? I can see some ways out of that and some sets of companies (not many) where that would be the case but it's going to be hard to turn them around once they reach that stage. Maximum risk = maximum potential gain, it's never been any different.
Making a corporate structure for something like this hard, I came up with a model a couple of years ago called 'The Modular Company' but the bookkeeping is a nightmare if you want it to be fair.
Still, I keep coming back to it and one of these days, who knows...