I don't think I follow the whole story. What exactly did you pay for? Did you pay him for his time, because when you say "I paid for that, plus some sort of marketing campaign..." I wonder what that is. If you paid for advertising, who got the contract? Is there no invoice?
Are you sure the terms were clear? If the other party kept the money in exchange for his efforts--and that seems likely--then I don't think there's a lot too this.
If the money was for an advertising campaign, I'm not sure why you feel that you're owed the money. What you're doing comes with risk of failure.
Perhaps I missed something in there. I think it's awfully aggressive to make public accusations of wrongdoing without explaining the arrangements that were made.
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I re-read your account, just to make sure I didn't miss the point, and I pretty sure I did not. This really sounds like you offered money for a stake in something that didn't take off, and you admit that you were not diligent in entering into this deal. That's the game. I suppose it's up to how your contract is written.
Are you sure the terms were clear? If the other party kept the money in exchange for his efforts--and that seems likely--then I don't think there's a lot too this.
If the money was for an advertising campaign, I'm not sure why you feel that you're owed the money. What you're doing comes with risk of failure.
Perhaps I missed something in there. I think it's awfully aggressive to make public accusations of wrongdoing without explaining the arrangements that were made.
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I re-read your account, just to make sure I didn't miss the point, and I pretty sure I did not. This really sounds like you offered money for a stake in something that didn't take off, and you admit that you were not diligent in entering into this deal. That's the game. I suppose it's up to how your contract is written.