The Co-Founder Problem

You trust your co-founder... while you're alive. You sit on the board together, you vote together, you balance each other out.

But what happens when you die?

• Your voting shares might sit in probate for months • Your co-founder now has majority control of the board • They can dilute your family's equity, change compensation, redirect company assets • Your spouse doesn't understand the cap table, the shareholder agreement, or the bylaws

By the time your estate lawyer figures out what happened, the company you built has been restructured in someone else's favor.

This isn't paranoia. This is corporate governance 101. Power vacuums get filled — fast.

The Dead Man's Switch as an Escrow

Use ZeroLatch as a digital escrow that executes your wishes automatically:

  1. Store transfer documents: Pre-signed stock transfer agreements, proxy voting authorizations, board removal resolutions
  2. Set recipient: Your estate attorney, your spouse, or a trusted advisor
  3. Set trigger: 14-day check-in

When you stop checking in, your recipient receives: • Documentation to immediately exercise your shares' voting rights • Instructions to notify the board of succession • Contact details for your corporate attorney • Cap table details and current shareholder agreements

Your co-founder can't move faster than an automated system that fires at the 14-day mark.

Beyond Death: The Incapacitation Scenario

Death is clean — legally speaking. You're declared dead, the will is read, the estate is processed.

Incapacitation is worse. You're alive but unable to vote, attend meetings, or protect your interests.

A medical emergency, a stroke, early-onset dementia — you're still a shareholder, but you can't exercise your rights. And without a pre-arranged power of attorney or automated succession mechanism, your shares sit frozen while others reshape the company around you.

ZeroLatch's dead man's switch doesn't require a death certificate. It requires absence. If you can't check in, your protection activates automatically — whether you're dead, in a coma, or detained.