Brett Martin – Fix Your Partnership or Quit It

<p><strong>BIO: </strong>Brett Martin is co-founder of Kumospace, the virtual HQ for remote teams, and Charge Ventures, a pre/seed VC based in Brooklyn, NY.</p><p><strong>STORY: </strong>Brett started a company and got just 20% ownership; the rest went to investors who eventually walked away, leaving the business to crumble.</p><p><strong>LEARNING: </strong>If you’re in a partnership that’s not working, you must push it to a conclusion. Complaining won’t resolve your problems. If you can, bootstrap your company instead of taking money from venture capitalists.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote class="ql-align-center"><strong>“A good business partnership is like a relationship. You have to like the person, respect and trust them.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote class="ql-align-center">Brett Martin</blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Guest profile</h2><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettlucasmartin/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Brett Martin</strong></a> is co-founder of <a href="https://www.kumospace.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kumospace</a>, the virtual HQ for remote teams, and <a href="https://charge.vc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charge Ventures</a>, a pre/seed VC based in Brooklyn, NY. He also serves as Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, where he teaches data analytics. He loves you.</p><h2>Worst investment ever</h2><p>Brett had just come off his first failed startup. He moved back to New York City, where his friend connected him with a job at an early-stage venture capital fund. The fund owners said they were looking to turn the fund into a venture studio, where they build and invest in companies. Brett wanted to start his own company, and he figured he might as well do it with the fund.</p><p>The fund gave Brett a pretty lousy deal on ownership. He owned just 20% of the company he founded. He got funding of $150,000 for giving up 80% of his company. Brett took the money and got the company up and running. He built a proof of concept and start