u/69magicmike420

Hey guys, I don't have any excuses. But I haven't trained in years. And even then it was casual and on/off for like a total of 2.

I've never competed or anything like that. I've done some light sparring when I was younger... but that's it. I was a total bitch about sparring too since I was admittedly scared shitless.

I'm determined though. I will be signing up for a formal gym once my gas tank is better so my capacity to learn is actually there.

In the mean time, I finally hung up this heavy bag my brother got me. But I don't want to develop any bad habits...

My ultimate goal is to do a smoker fight. That's it. I'm done with being sedentary. I'm ready to confront fear. This is something I'm going to do.

But right now is ground zero.

So if you're willing to entertain it, let me know how I can improve training on my heavy bag. I'm only able to do 3 rounds of 3 minutes right now without puking. So any cardio advice is desperately needed too.

Thanks. Feel free to be as critical as possible. I just need to know what to do and I'll do it.

I’m looking for advice from entrepreneurs who have been in a messy client to product situation...

Over the last six months, I’ve been building a niche software platform for a combat sports event operations use case. Think registrations, event workflows, participant management, matchmaking style workflows, payments, documents, results, and operational tools for organizers...

This started from conversations with someone I’ve known for years through my gym community. He is a gym owner with valuable connections in the space. The original idea came from his pain points and what he would want as a user... but the actual product is not some totally original concept. Similar products already exist in the market. I designed and built the prototype myself, kept improving it, and it has grown into something I now think could be a real business.

The problem is that nothing has been formalized. I know this was a huge mistake and it is a lesson learned, but just to clarify:

No contract signed...

No payment received...

No ownership terms in writing...

No clear scope...

No formal partnership agreement...

Communication has also been really inconsistent. He can take a long time to respond, has not helped move the business side forward, and now wants full ownership of the application for what feels like a lowball price... while also treating it like a friends and family discount. He is not family, and not really a friend either, although I have known him for years and value the gym community a lot.

That is where I feel stuck.

On one hand, he has valuable connections and credibility in the niche. That could matter a lot for distribution and early adoption. On the other hand, I am the one who actually built the product, thought through the workflows, and kept pushing it forward when the business side was not moving.

Part of me wants to launch solo if we cannot reach a fair deal. But I am worried about burning the bridge and looking like I stole the idea, even though the idea itself is not unique, nothing was signed, and I have not been paid anything.

I have started reaching out to software and startup law firms. So far I only have one free 15 minute introductory call scheduled. I know I will need legal guidance at some point, but consultations are expensive and I am trying to get practical advice from people who have been through something similar.

The real business questions I am struggling with are:

**• Is it ethically wrong to launch independently if there is no contract, no payment, and the idea itself is not original?**

**• Should I try to preserve the relationship by offering him a license instead of ownership?**

**• What would be a fair structure here... full buyout, licensing, royalties, equity, revenue share, or something else?**

**• How do you value a serious working prototype before it has revenue?**

**• How much should I value someone’s industry connections if they are unreliable with communication and execution?**

**• At what point do you stop negotiating and move forward on your own?**

**• What should I absolutely avoid saying or signing before speaking with a lawyer?**

I am not looking to promote the product or find customers here. I am genuinely trying to make a smart entrepreneurial decision before I accidentally give away something valuable... or damage a relationship in a community I care about.

Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. This has been on my mind constantly lately and I am really struggling with how to handle it.

I’ve spent the last six months building a niche software platform for a sports event operations use case.

This started from conversations with someone I’ve known for years through my gym community. He is a gym owner with valuable connections in the space. The original idea came from his pain points and what he would want as a user... but the actual product is not some totally original concept. Similar products already exist in the market. I designed and built the prototype completely myself, kept improving it, and it has grown into something I now think could become a real startup.

The problem is that nothing has been formalized. I know this was a huge mistake and it is a lesson learned, but just to clarify:

No contract signed...

No payment received...

No ownership terms in writing...

No clear scope...

No formal partnership agreement...

Communication has also been really inconsistent. He can take a very long time to respond, has not helped move the business side forward, and now wants full ownership of the application for what feels like a lowball price... while also treating it like a friends and family discount. I think he could potentially be open to royalties, equity, licensing, or something along those lines, but neither of us has experience valuing something like this.

He is not family, and not really a friend either, although I have known him for years and I really value the gym community. That is part of why this feels so difficult. It is starting to feel like a bad business setup, but I also do not want to handle it in a way that is unfair or burns a bridge unnecessarily.

I am torn because he does have valuable connections and credibility in the niche. That could matter a lot for distribution, trust, and early adoption. At the same time, I am the one who actually built the product, thought through the workflows, solved the technical problems, and kept pushing it forward while the business side stayed vague.

Part of me wants to launch solo if we cannot reach a fair deal. But I am worried about looking like I stole the idea, even though the idea itself is not unique, nothing was signed, and I have not been paid anything.

I have started reaching out to software and startup law firms. So far I only have one free 15 minute introductory call scheduled. I did not realize how expensive consultations are. I know I will need legal guidance at some point, but I am also trying to get practical founder advice from people who have been in similar situations.

My questions are:

• Would it be ethically wrong for me to launch independently if there is no contract, no payment, and the idea itself is not original?

• Should I still try to preserve the relationship by offering him a license instead of ownership?

• What would be a fair structure here... full buyout, licensing, royalties, equity, revenue share, or something else?

• How do you value a serious working prototype before it has launched or made revenue?

• How much should I value his industry connections if he has been unreliable with communication and follow through?

• At what point do I stop negotiating and just move forward on my own?

• What should I absolutely avoid saying or signing before speaking with a lawyer?

I am not looking to promote the product, find users, or solicit customers. I am genuinely trying to make a smart founder decision before I accidentally give away something valuable... or damage a relationship in a community I care about.

Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. This has been on my mind constantly lately and I am really struggling with how to handle it.

I’m looking for advice from entrepreneurs who have been in a messy client to product situation...

Over the last six months, I’ve been building a niche software platform for a combat sports event operations use case. Think registrations, event workflows, participant management, matchmaking style workflows, payments, documents, results, and operational tools for organizers...

This started from conversations with someone I’ve known for years through my gym community. He is a gym owner with valuable connections in the space. The original idea came from his pain points and what he would want as a user... but the actual product is not some totally original concept. Similar products already exist in the market. I designed and built the prototype myself, kept improving it, and it has grown into something I now think could be a real business.

The problem is that nothing has been formalized. I know this was a huge mistake and it is a lesson learned, but just to clarify:

No contract signed...

No payment received...

No ownership terms in writing...

No clear scope...

No formal partnership agreement...

Communication has also been really inconsistent. He can take a long time to respond, has not helped move the business side forward, and now wants full ownership of the application for what feels like a lowball price... while also treating it like a friends and family discount. He is not family, and not really a friend either, although I have known him for years and value the gym community a lot.

That is where I feel stuck.

On one hand, he has valuable connections and credibility in the niche. That could matter a lot for distribution and early adoption. On the other hand, I am the one who actually built the product, thought through the workflows, and kept pushing it forward when the business side was not moving.

Part of me wants to launch solo if we cannot reach a fair deal. But I am worried about burning the bridge and looking like I stole the idea, even though the idea itself is not unique, nothing was signed, and I have not been paid anything.

I have started reaching out to software and startup law firms. So far I only have one free 15 minute introductory call scheduled. I know I will need legal guidance at some point, but consultations are expensive and I am trying to get practical advice from people who have been through something similar.

The real business questions I am struggling with are:

• Is it ethically wrong to launch independently if there is no contract, no payment, and the idea itself is not original?

• Should I try to preserve the relationship by offering him a license instead of ownership?

• What would be a fair structure here... full buyout, licensing, royalties, equity, revenue share, or something else?

• How do you value a serious working prototype before it has revenue?

• How much should I value someone’s industry connections if they are unreliable with communication and execution?

• At what point do you stop negotiating and move forward on your own?

• What should I absolutely avoid saying or signing before speaking with a lawyer?

I am not looking to promote the product or find customers here. I am genuinely trying to make a smart entrepreneurial decision before I accidentally give away something valuable... or damage a relationship in a community I care about.

Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. This has been on my mind constantly lately and I am really struggling with how to handle it.

I’ve spent the last six months building a niche SaaS platform for a combat sports event operations use case. Think registrations, event workflows, participant management, matchmaking style workflows, payments, documents, results, and operational tools for organizers...

This started from conversations with someone I’ve known for years through my gym community. He is a gym owner with valuable connections in the space. The original idea came from his pain points and what he would want as a user... but the actual product is not a totally original concept. Similar SaaS products already exist in the market. I designed and built the prototype completely myself, kept improving it, and it has grown into something I now think could be a real product...

The problem is that nothing has been formalized. I know this was a huge mistake and it is a lesson learned, but just to clarify:

No contract signed...

No payment received...

No ownership terms in writing...

No clear scope...

No formal partnership agreement...

Communication has also been really inconsistent. He can take a very long time to respond, has not helped move the business side forward, and now wants full ownership of the application for what feels like a lowball price... while also treating it like a friends and family discount. I think he would be potentially be amenable to royalties, equity, or something along those lines, but neither of us have any experience with valuation for this sort of thing.

He is not family, and not really a friend either, and while I’ve known him for years and really value the gym community, this is starting to feel like a bad business setup. Ethically I don't know how to feel about this.

But I’m torn because he does have valuable connections and credibility in the niche. That could matter a lot for distribution. At the same time, I’m the one who has actually built the product, thought through the workflows, and kept pushing it forward. I honestly feel like I would rather launch solo if we cannot reach a fair deal, but I’m worried about burning the bridge and looking like I “stole” the idea, even though the idea itself is not unique and there is no formal agreement.

I have started reaching out to software and startup law firms. But so far I only have one free 15 minute introductory call scheduled. I didn't realize how expensive consultations are. I'm naive with this and this is the most ambitious project I've ever worked on as an entrepreneur and developer.

I know I’ll need legal guidance at some point, but I’m also trying to get practical advice from people who have lived through something similar.

My questions are:

• Would it be ethically wrong for me to launch independently if there is no contract, no payment, and the idea itself is not original?

• Should I still try to preserve the relationship by offering him a license instead of ownership?

• What would be a fair structure here... full buyout, licensing, royalties, equity, revenue share, or something else?

• How do you value a serious working prototype before it has launched or made revenue?

• How much should I value his industry connections if he has been unreliable with communication and follow through?

• At what point do I stop negotiating and just move forward on my own?

• What should I absolutely avoid saying or signing before speaking with a lawyer?

I’m not looking to promote the product or solicit customers. I’m genuinely trying to make a smart decision before I accidentally give away something valuable... or damage a relationship in a community I care about.

Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. This has been on my mind constantly lately and I am really struggling.