Point being, as others have said, it’s essentially a negotiation. Not a war.
Plus, I guess if the guy really could fuck the cake that gives him leverage and a negotiating position. If he can’t, then it’s moot.
And as other folks also pointed out further down, OP needs good legal advice and, to determine when the cost in time and money ends up being high enough and the probability of a lucrative outcome being low enough that it’s time to walk away.
Knowing those things can help make good decisions.
I think of this like this: OP created the cake of value being in a near equal partnership, thinking it would be cut equally when it is done. However when the work of OP is done and cake is baked, they want to have the full cake. This is not negotiation. This is breach of trust...it is morally, ethically dishonest on part of their co-founder.
If it’s not a negotiation, what is it?
And, how does OP assess their position, possible outcomes, and decide what cost is worth it?
How many months of ones life or tens of thousands of bucks is it worth? Depends on what’s likely to be at the end of the tunnel, no?
Point is - it’s a calculation, of just how badly one desires justice/vengeance, if nothing else. Which, when contracts are involved, for stuff like this means getting advice from a lawyer, unless you want to get your ass handed to you.
IIRC most court cases resolve with some kind of settlement - which is a negotiation.
Even if the process does become adversarial, how do you think wars end? Even when one side is the clear victor there is still negotiation. Consider the U.S. post-WWII occupation of Germany. Even there negotiation was involved at the end. We struck deals with the (now former) Nazis because they could help us against the Soviets in various ways.
There’s a third investor, who it sounds like has the power. So agin, potential for negotiation with the investor.
Negotiation does not equal weakness. It could very much mean negotiating an outcome in your favor from a position of strength. But if all you’ve got on your mind is cake-fucking then you may miss that opportunity.
This person created this valuable asset, giving his time and effort. The other person's effort to create it might be non zero but so are OP's and therefore, there is no reason why OP should walk away from it.
It’s a calculation. And it’s not a binary fight-or-flight situation. There’s room to maneuver - legal maneuvers, speaking with the investor, etc.
