THE PLAN: Structure & Governance
Team organization, roles, responsibilities, conflict handling, ownership structure, governance, and decision rights.
Leadership Model
My Role as CEO
I’m proposing to be CEO with these principles:
What I Promise:
- 100% dedication to Amigos (ideally my last project)
- Complete transparency in decisions
- Active listening to all feedback
- Clear reasoning for every choice
- Focus on making everyone wealthy
How It Works:
- I make proposals
- Team provides feedback
- I consider all input
- I make the final decision
- We execute with full commitment
Your Response Options
For every major decision:
- YES: “I trust you to lead and be flexible enough to listen”
- NO: “Here’s my complete counter-proposal”
- NO WITH VETO: “I can’t work under these conditions”
The Revocability Clause
I am not a dictator - I’m revocable if:
- Someone presents a better complete plan
- The team loses confidence in my leadership
- I fail to deliver on commitments
But until then, we need one captain for speed and clarity.
Decision Making Framework
Proposal System
How decisions get made:
- Written proposal with clear reasoning
- 48-hour comment period
- 1-on-1 discussions if needed
- Final decision communicated
- Full team commitment
What I Decide
Unilateral (with transparency):
- Company strategy
- Fundraising terms
- Key hires/fires
- Product prioritization
Collaborative (team input):
- Technical architecture
- Development processes
- Culture initiatives
- Compensation adjustments
What Teams Decide
Autonomous (within scope):
- Implementation details
- Tool choices
- Work methods
- Internal processes
Governance Evolution
Phase 1: Benevolent dictatorship (Years 0-2) Phase 2: Advisory board (Years 2-4) Phase 3: Formal board with founder control (Years 4-7) Phase 4: Public company with dual-class (Year 7+)
Maintaining Control Through Growth
Funding Strategy to Keep Control:
- Dual-class shares: 10x voting power for founder shares
- Board composition: Always maintain majority
- Veto rights: On key decisions regardless of dilution
- Preferred terms: No investor can force sale/pivot
What This Enables:
- Reject acquisition offers that don’t fit vision
- Pursue 10-year plans, not 2-year exits
- Take massive technical risks
- Say “no” to revenue-first strategies
- Build the company WE want, not what VCs want
Team Roles & Responsibilities
Founding Engineer Roles
- Technical Leadership: Architecture decisions within scope
- Product Input: Feature design and user experience
- Team Building: Help recruit and mentor others
- Vision Alignment: Ensure execution matches strategy
Conflict Handling
Process for Disagreements:
- Direct 1-on-1 discussion first
- Written position statements if needed
- Team meeting with facilitation
- CEO decision if no consensus
- Full commitment to execution
Escalation Paths:
- Technical disputes → CTO → CEO
- Product disputes → Product lead → CEO
- Personal conflicts → HR/CEO
- Strategic disputes → CEO (final)
Special Situations
External Contributors
Samourai/Others:
- Convertible notes or BSA-AIR
- €50k at €20M cap
- Convert at next round
- Recognize past support
Future Hires:
- Standard employee equity
- Market salaries
- Normal vesting
- Performance bonuses
What This Structure Enables
With clear leadership and protected control, we can:
Take Massive Risks:
- Build features everyone says are impossible
- Ignore “safe” advice from advisors
- Pursue technical excellence over quick revenue
- Challenge incumbents 100x our size
Make Bold Decisions:
- Open source everything when VCs say “protect IP”
- Give away 90% when competitors charge 100%
- Build for developers when investors want enterprise
- Choose long-term impact over short-term profit
Stay Focused:
- One vision, not design-by-committee
- Fast decisions, not endless debates
- Clear priorities, not political compromises
- Technical excellence, not feature bloat
Build Different:
- Like Valve ignored publishers
- Like Tesla ignored “car experts”
- Like Apple said no to carriers
- Like Amazon ignored Wall Street
Why This Structure
The Hard Truth About Startups
After extensive discussions with successful entrepreneurs and VCs, the data is clear:
- Single-leader companies succeed 10x more than committee-led ones
- VCs will not invest without clear leadership
- Speed of execution determines survival
- Aligned incentives beat good intentions
Historical Proof
Companies That Maintained Founder Control:
- Amazon: Ignored Wall Street for 20 years → $1.7T company
- Facebook: Rejected $1B acquisition → $900B company
- Netflix: Pivoted from DVDs despite investor panic → Killed Blockbuster
- Tesla: “Production hell” with Musk sleeping in factory → Revolutionized cars
- Spotify: Fought record labels for years → Changed music forever
Companies That Lost It:
- Yahoo: Board/investor control → Missed Google, Facebook, everything
- AOL: VC-driven merger mania → Destroyed value
- Groupon: Rejected Google, went public, VC control → 95% value loss
- Twitter: Founder musical chairs → Stagnation until Musk
- WeWork: Board couldn’t control founder early → Disaster
The Bottom Line
This isn’t about me having power. It’s about having clarity, speed, and alignment.
I’m taking the maximum risk:
- If we fail, my reputation is destroyed
- If we succeed, everyone wins
- No middle ground
Ecosystem Governance
Hub Network Architecture
“amigos.hub” Network Role:
- Central configuration for ecosystem
- Whitelist of trusted networks
- Current software version registry
- Domain name and username registration
- Short handle resolution system
Decentralization Path:
- Start centralized for bootstrap
- Gradual governance distribution
- Community voting on key decisions
- Multi-network redundancy over time