

I just quit a company that was never (formally) made - stasy

Hi<p>I&#x27;m a 16 year old app developer. In April of this year, I made a deal with my father for 50% of my company if he bought me a MacBook to make apps on, as well as start an LLC for the apps. I agreed to that deal because there was nothing to lose. I just wanted to make apps.<p>*Skip to now<p>For the past months, I&#x27;ve been learning, developing, and publishing apps. I&#x27;ve put as much work into it as I could sometimes working for more than 12 hours at a time. BUT I was blinded by the work and the rewards I might make in the end from realizing that my father hasn&#x27;t done anything for the company since April. I&#x27;ve been telling him every week to start an LLC. I wanted to make things as fast as I could, but I now see that he just wasn&#x27;t into it as I was. I was willing to do anything for the company which wasn&#x27;t even made, but he&#x27;d been waiting for months to actually do something for the company.<p>So, I quit. I didn&#x27;t feel like working with (although something it felt like I was working for him) that doesn&#x27;t have enthusiasm to jump into making the company. I don&#x27;t know if he was afraid of the risk or something else.<p>I also just gave him his investment back (the MacBook). I&#x27;m also going to have to pay him taxes from money I made earlier this year (January) by selling some of my stuff.<p>I want to continue making apps (I actually just want to work on one app that I want to spend 100% of my time on), and start on a new venture&#x2F;company. I&#x27;ll be spending the next couple of months finding a job to get enough money to buy a Macbook.<p>And that&#x27;s how I quot a company that was never (formally) made.
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philiphodgen
I'm a father. I have three teen-age children: 17, 15, 13. I'm a business
owner.

I'm also a lawyer and I know what it takes to create and maintain an LLC. It's
a big fucking pain in the ass, and it is totally irrelevant to the success or
failure of a business.

Maybe you can't see the view from your father's side of the equation. Nor can
I -- I do not know you and we have never met. But I can guess what is going
through his head.

What I do know is that I deeply want my children to succeed in life. I'll bet
your father does, too.

I'll also bet that he doesn't give two fucks about owning 50% of a company
with you. I'll bet in his eyes the company is 100% yours, and he wants nothing
but the best for you.

He didn't invest in a company to buy you a MacBook. He gave you a MacBook
because he's your dad and he loves you and he wants you to massively succeed
in ways he never did.

He's watching you work hard, and I'll bet he is thrilled at every achievement,
big and small. He's probably thrilled just to see you get down and grind hard.
Do you know how rare that is in a 16-year old? That is gold to a dad.

He was probably crushed when you gave him the MacBook back. Because that meant
you were quitting. I hate it when I see my kids quit. He doesn't care about
getting his investment back. His investment is you. He loves you.

You had a company that you 100% owned. You quit. Your reason for quitting is
because your father did not give you something you do not need. That's stupid
on stilts.

Don't do that. If you quit now you will keep quitting when you are 18. And 22.
And 30. And 45. And 60.

You published apps. That means you have a business. A business is one or more
people producing something that other people (customers) think is valuable.
They vote for your efforts by giving you money to show that they value what
you produced.

You have a business. Don't throw that away.

You have a father who loves you. Don't throw that away, either.

~~~
stasy
That's just confusing because I didn't give up the MacBook willingly. I told
him I didn't want to work on it anymore with him because he didn't seem to
into it as much I had hoped. I even gave him the offer that I'll stay if it
was split 70/30, but he said no. He's even taking it another step by only
allowing me to access the Internet for school now.

~~~
philiphodgen
Heh. Wait until you're a parent before you think you understand the situation.

Internet privileges are removed by parents because they see their kids flaking
off and not getting stuff done. Not because they are mean.

It is a giant thankless pain in the ass to have teenagers. And it is the best
thing in the world. I had dinner tonight with my three and almost shed a tear
in the restaurant from happiness. And I have a flakey kid -- much like you I
suspect. :-)

Good luck, buddy. It is a long and wonderful life. Treasure these lessons, as
puzzled as you are right now. You are only puzzled because you misinterpret
reality. That will change.

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justintocci
I would have given a lot for the opportunity you've been given. To have no
bills, no worries, no responsibilities AND have the time to learn! I beg you
to reconsider. If you haven't made any money yet then there is no reason to
start a company. A company is a response to an income problem. You don't have
that problem yet so let it go.

Make some apps, as many as you can. keep them small. Don't bite off more than
you can chew. Get feedback on everything you do. Get feedback on what you plan
to do. The skill you are trying to learn is to really understand what people
want and then turn that into an app that speaks to their needs.

Please please please reconsider! I wish you all the best.

~~~
stasy
The thing is, it wasn't going anywhere. I couldn't make any apps that costs
money (since I needed to make the company first to get an EIN).

~~~
eschutte2
What do you need an EIN for? Is this an app store thing? In most cases your
SSN serves as an EIN. If you really need an EIN, you don't need an LLC for
that. [http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/when-does-sole-
propri...](http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/when-does-sole-proprietor-
need-ein.html)

~~~
stasy
I can't, because I'm not 18. And he doesn't want to use his.

~~~
eschutte2
Where'd you hear that there's an age limit on applying for an EIN? And you
didn't say why you need one.

~~~
stasy
I tried using my own SSN, but they said I wasn't old enough. You have to send
in that info for tax forms and such.

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ScottBurson
Hmm, difficult situation. Your father didn't keep his end of the bargain. I
agree that you can't just let that go; a deal is a deal.

Sounds like firing him and moving on is the right thing to do.

