AI Advisor · Co-Founders

A neutral room
when co-founders disagree

Co-founder disputes rarely fail from a bad answer — they fail from a process that can't separate signal from ego. SynthBoard runs the argument so you don't have to.

Start free See how it works

In short

Through the memo — there is no shared room and no co-authoring. One of you brings both positions to her and the board argues each; the memo shares as a read-only link the other opens without an account. For a solo gut-check before a hard conversation, each of you can run your own.

Last reviewed October 1, 2026

An example

One ask, start to finish.
What comes back is a memo.

How a board takes a call like this: her read, who sits, what they ask first, then the call — with how sure they are, who disagreed and the first step.

Co-Founders

Example · Board of 3

My co-founder wants 50/50 equity but I had the idea and built the MVP. How do we re-split fairly?

Chief of staff

This one needs a board: The Strategist, The Empath and The Lawyer. The Strategist maps competitive dynamics and strategic options across multi-year horizons. Each researches alone first, then they react to one another — and on a decision, two of them take opposed sides.

The StrategistCompetitive Expert
The EmpathPeople Advocate
The LawyerLegal Protector

Asked first

Has a competitor already made this move?

Yes, one hasNot that I knowWe’d be first

The board’s call

Re-split to 55/45 with full vesting reset on a 4-year cliff.

Equity splits matter most for who controls the company at Series A, not who feels valued today. Vesting reset protects both founders if one leaves in year 2.

Confidence78 · High

The Lawyer disagreed

“If your co-founder won't accept anything less than 50/50, the equity isn't the real conflict”

First step Document the rationale today.this week

Board of 3 · up to 135 credits on the card · an example, not a recorded run

Other asks people bring here

Several asks in one message become several rooms, each with its expert and its own price on the card. Keep or drop any, then convene them together.

I want to take VC; my co-founder wants to bootstrap. Which path actually serves the company? — The Empath, up to 85 credits
My co-founder is consistently underperforming. Do we have a hard conversation, restructure roles, or part ways? — The Lawyer, up to 85 credits
Should we appoint one of us CEO formally, or stay co-CEOs? — The Skeptic, up to 85 credits

What you get

What she handles.
On this kind of call.

Mediate without picking a side

Bring both positions to her; the board argues each on its merits, and the memo names the real trade-off neither of you wanted to say.

Equity, role, and decision-rights clarity

Structured analysis of equity splits, vesting, founder titles, and decision-authority — the conversations that fester until they detonate.

Strategic alignment checks

When one founder wants enterprise and the other wants PLG, the board maps both paths and names the actual fork — with who disagreed and why.

Conflict early-warning

Bring the question back every quarter; The Empath names drift before it becomes a relationship-ending event.

Why SynthBoard

Why SynthBoard for this.
Not one voice. A board.

Genuinely neutral by design

A human advisor knows one of you better; the experts know neither of you. The memo is anchored to the argument, not the relationship.

What you decided stays on file

She keeps what you tell her on file, with where each fact came from. What you decided comes back when a new ask would reverse it — so a re-litigated argument starts from the prior conclusion.

- Vesting reset protects both founders if one leaves in…From the memo
- Anything more lopsided than 60/40 deters serious investorsFrom the memo
The call: Re-split to 55/45 with full vesting reset on a…You decided
The Lawyer: If your co-founder won't accept anything less than…The dissent
Equity splits matter most for who controls the company at Series…From the memoStill true?KeepNot quiteKeptShe uses it from here on

Built-in conflict-resolution structure

A board forces a structure — each expert researches alone, then reacts once to the others, and the memo keeps the dissent — that emotional kitchen-table arguments lack.

Who sits

The experts for this call.
Each one holds a position.

Your Chief of Staff proposes who sits for the call, and every board is built with someone whose job is to argue against the obvious answer. Name an expert and they take a seat; tell her who you want on your board and they sit by default. How many seats a board has depends on your plan.

Competitive Expert

The Strategist

Don’t ask whether it’s good. Ask what your competitor does the day after you ship it.

The Strategist Competitive Expert

Best on: Positioning, entering a market, pricing against a rival.
Won’t let you: Plan a move as if nobody will answer it.

Try asking The Strategist

Start with

The StrategistOpen on every plan, Free included

Pick an expert

Hover, tap or tab throughSwipe, then tap one

GPT
Claude
Gemini
Grok

Seats are spread across model families: GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and more.

In their words

Co-founder disputes survive in the gap between "what we said" and "what we meant." A boardroom closes that gap with structured language both founders can point to.

The Empath People Advocate

Questions

Fair questions.
Straight answers.

What people ask before they bring this call to a board.

How do we use this together?

Can this actually mediate a serious co-founder dispute?

For decision content (equity, strategy, hiring), yes — the memo lays out the trade-offs and the dissent more plainly than a heated meeting does. For relationship issues (trust, communication style), you need a human therapist or executive coach as well.

What if my co-founder refuses to use it?

Run it on your own first and share the memo as a structured starting point. "I put this in front of a board that argued both sides — here is where they disagreed" often de-escalates better than "I think we should…"

Is the boardroom biased toward bigger or smaller equity holders?

Neither — the experts know only what you tell them. The Lawyer pushes for documented clarity; The CFO pushes for cap-table health; The Empath pushes for psychological safety. The memo reflects all three pressures.

Will the recommendation be legally binding or substitute for a founder agreement?

No. SynthBoard produces strategic guidance, not legal documents. Take the memo to your lawyer for any equity or role changes; the written rationale makes the legal work faster and cheaper.

Can we use this before there's a dispute, as a yearly check-in?

Yes, and it is the best use. A yearly alignment board catches drift early. The Empath and The Strategist are particularly good at surfacing strategic divergence before it becomes a fork.

SynthBoard (synthboard.ai) is one place for your business, your life, and every hard call. Your Chief of Staff keeps what you tell her on file, and 24 named experts on different AI models take the calls — one expert for a consult, a board with opposed seats for the hard ones — and hand back a memo with the call, the dissent and the first move. How it works.