Daniel’s individual position statement, prepared privately with Mediator.ai before the engine generated candidate agreements. See the full example for context.
Background
Maya and I opened the bakery together two years ago as equal partners. We both contributed starting capital (I put in $15k of my savings plus a $3k loan from my parents that I’m still paying back; she put in around $18k). We agreed on a 50/50 split and signed a partnership agreement. That handshake matters to me. It was the foundation of the whole thing.
What actually happened
Six months in my savings were gone. I literally could not make rent. I took a delivery driver job so I could keep contributing to the business instead of walking away. I’ve never missed a morning bake in 18 months — I’m there at 5am every weekday and most Saturdays. Our bread, croissants, and scones are what people come in for, and that’s my work.
What Maya calls “running the business alone” is mostly customer-facing and marketing work that wouldn’t exist if I weren’t producing the product every morning. The Instagram, the counter staff, the lease — yes, she did those. But the bakery doesn’t open without me.
What Maya isn’t mentioning
For the first 14 months of that “part-time” period, my delivery income was paying our shared apartment rent. When Maya’s savings got thin too, I covered her half three or four times. We never wrote any of that down, but she knows it happened.
I also haven’t taken a distribution from the bakery in over a year — I left my share in the business because Maya said we needed the cash flow.
Current situation
An investor wants 20% for $80k and has said the ownership split needs to be clarified. I understand the investor’s concern, but I also feel cornered — like I’m being asked to give up what we agreed to, under pressure, because someone outside the business is making it a condition.
What I want
I want the 50/50 split to stand. That was the deal. I’ve kept my end of it — I’ve shown up every morning, I’ve subsidized us personally when I could, and I’ve left my earnings in the business. If Maya wants to be compensated for the extra administrative work, I’m open to that happening through salary, not equity.
What I’m afraid of
- That this is the first step toward Maya buying me out entirely, and that once I accept less equity I’ll have less leverage to stay involved.
- That my contribution — the actual product, the early-morning work nobody sees — is being dismissed because it’s less visible than Instagram followers.
- That the last two years of scraping by will end with me holding less of the thing I helped build.
What I’d accept
I’d consider an arrangement where Maya draws a salary that compensates her for the administrative work I’m not doing, going forward — funded by the business or by the investor cash. I’d consider tracking hours from here on out so the split reflects reality going forward. But I’m not willing to retroactively give up equity based on the past 18 months, especially without any accounting for what I was contributing outside the bakery to keep us both afloat.