
Ask HN: How long should a partnership wait before legally organizing? - rusticusprime
I am in a group with 4 members. I&#x27;m a developer on it - we&#x27;ve agreed to an equal 25% split regardless of whatever expenses we personally incur before organizing (pretty small stuff, a $10 subscription here and there - but also some medium stuff, like paying a contractor a few grand for illustrations).<p>Now we are about ready to think about launching and selling product - I was thinking we were going to be testing by giving away licenses for free to relevant users - but it seems like the plan is to charge.<p>This is fine because it&#x27;s not too shoddily built for what I&#x27;d call a market-testable prototype - but I know that this means there&#x27;s going to be potential liability introduced.<p>Also in terms of just protecting our interests and ensuring nobody can try to grab for more ownership when we do organize is important to me. I like working with these teammates in general, but we have clashed more than once - so it&#x27;s not beyond the ralm of possibility that things might not be amicable at that point in time.<p>When should I put my foot down regarding organizing legally? Should it be before we launch to paying customer? Should it be before we even test with customers? Or should I just chill out and wait until we&#x27;re making enough money that we know the fees aren&#x27;t wasted?
======
hashkb
Now. You don't want it to be a distraction/issue later.

~~~
rusticusprime
I appreciate the advice. I've had partners before who always got defensive
when I brought up partnerships, and I can already feel some slight resistance.
I hadn't thought about the fact that it would actually be a distraction later.

