
Ask HN: How to structure JV for SaaS given upfront salary/costs - kexemirrarr
I previously asked a question here (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=23640125) about a former colleague wishing to extend a platform I developed for them into a SaaS.<p>The joint venture has yet to gain traction. Mostly due to a lack of time &amp; enthusiasm on my part. Partly because I am not sure the business idea has legs; this is not because the platform isn’t useful - it really is. I’ve built the platform using existing technologies and I understand the underlying theory reasonably well. However, it would not be hard for a potential customer to hire developers and to re-create a similar platform with some time and effort.<p>All that said, I’m starting to get itchy feet in my day job and switching to something completely different would be good and I’d have greater control in what I’m doing. I’d also happily put a lot of creative energy into something I’d have ownership over (even if shared).<p>My former colleague is really keen to get the idea off the ground and has recently asked what it would take for me to get fully on board. They touted a fixed amount that would take me from my day job for 2 years. It was a round number and amounted to approximately 85% of my annual salary (excluding discretionary bonuses). They also offered to cover hardware&#x2F;cloud service costs.<p>This is quite tempting to me and I’m exploring the idea. I’m not sure how one would structure a fair contract in such a case. How could I argue to keep a greater percentage ownership of the new entity especially if I’ve been given a relatively large forward salary. What proportion of ownership would be fair in this case? 60&#x2F;40? 55&#x2F;45? Are there any other general thoughts or caveats I should be aware of?
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Jugurtha
> _However, it would not be hard for a potential customer to hire developers
> and to re-create a similar platform with some time and effort._

You could re-create a Google with some time and effort, too.

Jesting aside, that is valid for practically any product or service. Customers
have other things to do; comparative advantage and all. Even if they have the
ability and resources to re-create every tool they're using to accomplish
their core tasks, doing so means they wouldn't be executing their core tasks.
Where would they draw the line before getting to Czochralski and growing
semiconductors crystals?

