Founders and partners
Resolve it before it costs you the company.
Salt City Mediation helps co-founders and business partners in Utah work through equity splits, roles, exits, and ownership questions in a private two-hour video session, with a written agreement signed on the call and no court involved.
What this is for
Equity and vesting
The split no longer feels fair, someone's cliff is coming up, or an early handshake was never written down.
Roles and decisions
Who is actually the CEO. Who can sign. Who gets a vote. The org chart says one thing and the Slack says another.
Someone wants out
A founder is leaving, or should. What they take, what they keep, and how to say it without burning the company down.
Who owns what
Code, the name, the customer list, the idea itself. Especially when it started as a side project.
Partners in a small business
Two owners of a shop, a practice, or a trade business who cannot agree on money, hours, or direction.
It got personal
The real problem is that you stopped trusting each other, and every meeting is now about that.
Why a founder dispute is different
You are not just two parties. You are two people who built something together, who probably still have to work together on Monday, and whose investors, employees, and customers are watching. Litigation makes all of that worse while it runs. It is slow, public enough, and it hardens positions.
Mediation treats the relationship as part of the problem to solve, not collateral. The questions that actually matter in these rooms are rarely legal. They are about recognition, security, control, and fairness. When those get named, the cap table conversation usually gets easier.
How a session goes
You each have a short private conversation with the mediator first. Then one video session, about two hours. Each of you says what matters, uninterrupted. Together you list what needs solving: the vesting change, the buyout number, the role, the IP assignment. You work the list one item at a time, with private breakout conversations when something is hard to say across the table. What you agree to is written up and signed on the call.
The mediator is neutral and does not give legal advice. For anything that changes ownership, have your attorney paper the final agreement. Mediation gets you to the terms. A lawyer makes them durable. The full walkthrough is on how it works.
What it costs
$200 per hour plus a one-time $35 admin fee, two-hour minimum, so a first session is $435. Most co-founders split it, or the company pays. The 15-minute consult beforehand is free. Full pricing.
When mediation is not the right call
If someone is hiding money, if you need discovery to find out what actually happened, or if one person refuses to show up, mediation cannot force any of that. Court exists for those situations. We will say so in the consult if that is what we hear.
Common questions
Can mediation change our equity split or vesting?
Mediation can get the two of you to agreed terms. Changing the cap table itself requires the right documents, usually prepared by a lawyer, and sometimes board or investor consent. We help you reach the agreement; your attorney makes it official.
Our operating agreement has a dispute clause. Can we still mediate?
Usually, yes. Many agreements require mediation or arbitration before litigation, and voluntary mediation can happen before any of that if both of you agree. Check the clause, or ask your attorney, and raise it in the consult.
What if my co-founder will not agree to mediate?
Mediation is voluntary, and nobody can be compelled. We can help you extend the invitation in a way that is easier to accept, and the guide on a partner who has stopped communicating has a script. Sometimes a neutral invitation from the mediator lands differently than one from you.
Is what we discuss confidential?
Yes. Sessions are not recorded, and a live transcript is used only to draft the agreement and is deleted once it is signed. What you say in a private caucus stays with the mediator unless you say it can be shared.
David Ring III
Mediator and founder of Salt City Mediation LLC. Founder of EmpathEase, an app for practicing empathy and Nonviolent Communication. Completed Utah Dispute Resolution's 40-hour mediation training in 2026.