throwawayz

funny my wife offered to do the exact same thing almost and call him at home ( found the # online! ) and really lay it on him how he's stealing food from our kid's mouth.

MVC is correct. it was just 1 month behind..when things started to slip.. and thats when we stopped work.

having said that we will be taking major retainers and updating our contracts so they are bulletproof.

for the last 4 years they have been running their v1 app. we were brought in to build their v2 apps.

i sent them emails just the way you explained. They are a shitshow who just burned through their $ on fancy NYC lunches with potential clients.

So I just spoke to my old lawyer buddy this morning.. basically for $25k it is borderline not worth it...and honestly i cant take my eye off the ball now - as we need to quickly find new projects.

re: contract we have one in place. it has a clause for IP ownership based on full payment..and we've stopped work a while ago.

i will send them a final followup email reminding them of the IP ownership terms and that they currently have in their hands ( ie their github acccnt ) OUR property.

great tips and terms!

luckily I had the the IP ownership > full payment one in our contract. But i like the 'full-coverage' option too. I will even add an extra penalty for last minute pull-outs/or just ask for a 25% retainer.

Having never dealt with the CEO, i sent him a VM to his home, which i heard later he was shocked to get.. which kindly asked him to respond to my email that went:

    This is Joe, CEO of XYZ, the studio which has been faithfully working on your new products since last year.

I’ve tried inquiring with Patricia as to when we could expect payment of all our outstanding balances to-date ( see below ) -- only to have been repeatedly given various specific dates which have come and gone.

Her last update to me was “Sorry I have no more info..thanks for your patience”.

Please understand we are a very small operation which relies on timely payments to stay in business.

We only have a few select clients we honorably service with the highest standards and transparency, as we value the long-term potential of each relationship.

We've been very flexible with the delays and would like to confirm - personally with you - as to when we can expect payments of the (three) 60, 50, and 30 day late invoices.

Once they are fulfilled, we can happily continue rendering our services and finish up this incredible app.

—his reply —

    I got your phone call; it’s my understanding you are in frequent conversation with Pam, and she has been trying to keep you as updated as possible.  We have been in a bit of a financial squeeze ourselves, in part because funds we thought were coming in didn’t, and that has affected our ability to pay what we owe to you and some others.  I do expect that we will have clarity next week with regard to when we can make the payments due.  As a small business ourselves, and someone with many years experience in that position, I know how difficult this can be and we really do appreciate your understanding.

—my reply —

    Thanks for your timely response.

If you've been in my position you then you fully understand the entire situation.

I absolutely need $5000 by next week to fulfill both my employee and family commitments on my end.

The last thing I want to do is purse alternatives. What is the likeliness of this payment?

—to which his COO decided to call me and commiserate with no clear deferred payment plan and just a sob story.

"The only way you are getting paid is releasing the MVP asap" -- this is impossible for us to do since we would need to spend a ton of time understanding their existing backend ( 4yrs old ) and at this point this MVP is worthless to them if they are truly imploding financially.

both companies are in NY : where there is 1 party consent http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/new-york-recording-law

i also recorded my last convo with the COO.. but not sure if it is usable in court as she didn't know about it.