When Founders Fight — Part 2: Acquisitions, the Shotgun Clause & Clean Exits

Most co-founder disputes don't explode — they surface slowly. And they often arrive not when a startup is failing, but when it finally succeeds.In Part Two of When Founders Fight, Maitrabh continues the conversation with Vasundhara Shankar — a corporate lawyer who has sat on the difficult side of these calls — on what the law actually does when founder alignment breaks down. The acquisition standoff, where one founder wants to sell and the other doesn't, and who really holds the power to decide. The shotgun clause: a buy-sell mechanism that looks perfectly fair on paper and can quietly force a founder out. And the rarest thing in the startup world — a clean, graceful exit that doesn't destroy what was built.If Part One was about how the cracks begin, Part Two is about what happens when the stakes are highest.Beyond the Black is an independent podcast about the law that startups actually run into.Guest: Vasundhara Shankar · Host: Maitrabh Chauhan