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Business & incomeExperience excerpt · English

My brother died almost 10 years ago and he ran his own software company

My brother died almost 10 years ago and he ran his own software company. He had no plan, because he thought he could beat cancer. His wife had to get his passwords while he was on his deathbed. The day of his funeral, his wife begged me to look at his work laptop and help her out. She even mentioned us being partners in the company. I was already running my own successful company at the time and had almost no time do this. I found the time and saved her probably close to $150,000 in customers pissed off because my brother stopped handling support due to his illness, forgotten about purchase orders, and a website that he pre-paid for $20,000 and was never delivered because he died and never told them he was sick. They sent over the entire amount within a few days of me explaining the situation. I never expected any money for this work, I was just trying to clean up the business and get it back to a functional level. A few months later, when she had time to grieve and think about things, she wanted to talk partnership. …

Original discussionAfter my dad died, I ran and sold his company (2018)120 source comments · at import
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She doesn't seem to have the experience to make it successful (either the ability to run it or hire) and you didn't have the time to run it either, given that, the company halting is almost a given as with any sole proprietorship when the founder suddenly dies

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> A few months later, when she had time to grieve and think about things, she wanted to talk partnership. Her first offer was to pay me $15/hour, which I rejected (and laughed about later with my wife). That's an immediate red flag that tells me: 1) She doesn't value other people's time, but thinks that her's is invaluable. 2) She thinks this is a "simple job" (It never is, regardless of the business in question).

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