Sounds useful. Who are your competitors? How big is the market? Create a slide deck and sell the idea to a website and develop it for them. Don't focus on having a "bad idea". Ideas are worthless, execution is everything.
What risks are taking that makes you deserve ownership?
What are you doing there that makes you irreplaceable?
What parts of the business will you take on and be held responsible?
Answer those questions and be firm on why you want to take on ownership and how you can grow the business.
Have you pitched any VC's or angels? What premoney are you giving them?
If you don't have a premoney, then cut him a fair salary for the time he worked in a convertible note. The convertible note will be the optimal way to have a nice looking cap table.
I just suggest that you deal with this matter quickly while everyone is in a good mood. Success in a business after someone leaves can be dangerous...
Google. Find their blog, usually it'll have a contact email, send your elevator pitch. This method has been highly successful for when I'm doing PR for Phone Halo.
Do the math on what x% is in dollars based on your premoney evaluation. Give him the note for that amount and treat him as if he were a friends and family investor.
You're paying yourself? I would highly suggest keeping as much cash in the business as possible and put off paying yourself for as long as possible. You'll suffer now but thank yourself later. Get entrepreneurial on how to score free rent and food.
if you have created something that people will go out of their way to pirate, congratulations. Piracy should be the least of your concerns. Focus on getting as many users as possible.
The survey gains general statistics about loss and then is geared to help us fine tune our marketing. I am hoping that seeing some real world process of a company trying to fine tune their marketing will help other HNers fine tune their marketing as well
He chose the safe play rather than risking it on the company he decided to devote his life to. The numbers show that he made the wrong choice, hence a mistake.