quote:

Back in 2003 a new website started, and I was the #2 guy of the operation. We started as a hobby site but knew we had the potential to eventually make money, which we did through ad sales. I was in charge of the ad sales (in addition to many other things). Because we had no budget or loan to start this business, I only made commission based on the sales I made.

Now our community was very large and it was common knowledge that I was the #2 guy in charge of the site, but despite this, I had my name attached to basically none of the official paperwork (no hosting bills, for example).

Eventually the company began to change and I hated the new people brought in to take control. I was slowly pushed to a less active role in the community and more into a business/ad sales side of things. Eventually the company was bought out (for approximately half a million) and several of the people brought in after me got about 10% of that due to stock. I was never given stock because my relationship with the owner had partially turned sour, because I was often outspoken in the community about my disagreements with him on the direction of the company - bad mistake but I was young). Despite this sourness I was still involved in the company with ad sales and general consultation. I was also still providing many great ideas for new features - some of which have since been implemented.

I figured the dude would offer me some type of compensation for the years of service I did for him that didnt fall under the commission umbrella. I didnt feel he could make the claim "Well it was a business you didnt get stock sorry buddy" because so much of the dynamic was NOT strictly business. I donated personal money to the site at the early stages. I didnt take any commission on months where we didnt earn enough to cover the bills. So much of what I did was outside of the ad sales/commission.

I've tried to talk to him about this subject but he has completely ignored me. He is a very nice/intelligent/fair person so only thing I could think of is that he's ignoring me out of legal advice. All I want is a small amount of money for my services. Do I have any legal leg to stand on without any official acknowledgment like stock?