Users want a clear and transparent way to see how equity is distributed among co-founders and investors in crowdfunding platforms to avoid misunderstandings and disputes.
For quick context, I was somewhat friends with these guys, we all met at a kava bar. Two of them had an idea for a kava bar, they knew I also did(more so specifically vending at festivals or something else). Before I start too, I'm posting this because I've already tried the "talking to them about it" route, it doesn't work. They wanted me on and told me from the start I would be a co-founder, as well as one other person we know. They would phrase it in ways to others that we started it up, there's photos on social media of the "founders" which includes myself. I was told I would be in charge of marketing too because of my degree and past experience. However, recently I saw on our founder agreements that me and one other guy, who they hired on because he actually has his own thing going on, have only 5% equity. The agreement also requires a $30,000 cash contribution and withholds all profit distributions until $20,000 in services is completed. I want to add, none of us get paid, our "employees" volunteer their time which I'm pretty sure is illegal without licensing. It's an LLC but barely over a year old, we have no licenses or permits so only do "private" events, but they refuse to get any of it until they get a loan which has taken months. I also slowly would get my marketing roles taken, I was told I'd be manager once they find a legit physical building but then told I wouldn't because they think i'm not good at it? I came in with marketing experience, have been handling all social media, content creation, customer acquisition, and events. I've also personally invested a few thousand dollars into the business and paid for expenses like Canva subscriptions and Instagram ads out of my own pocket with no reimbursement. I dont think they're intentionally malicious but they always say we can talk about things, yet when I do, I just have to be like, "yeah okay that makes sense" because I can only talk to someone so much before realizing that no matter what I say, they will refuse to listen even if it benefits them. When I run events independently because they "cant make it" and they go well, I still get criticized the next day. One of the times was due to me trying to tell the main owner that we did agree with the venue space that we would show up on X day, he refused to believe me, didn't believe the host either, so I went. But I was told i couldn't do it under the brand name and I have to give it away I can't make money off it(still was given donations). When I respond to client inquiries on instagram, the main founder jumps in and contradicts me, making the business look disorganized.