What to do now? Send a stern email explaining the situation: you think he's ripping you off, if he can't produce evidence of a product being worked on or provide an explanation of where the money is, request the money back, if he can't provide that then I'd suggest contacting a lawyer (got any contracts?). If he can't explain where the money is, show a product or return the money, in that situation I'd suggest lawyering up.
It's possible he got sidetracked, or it was more work than expected, but money given as "marketing budget" for a product that he can't show exists should not have gone anywhere. If it was wages, or a fee for the work then sure he could explain it away, but marketing money? Having been in this situation on the other side, in my case I got extremely busy with work that was paying me directly and didn't have time for the side-project work, but I didn't take any money intended for post-launch and spend it in the interim... that crosses the line from slow/lazy to wilfully ripping someone off.
If he had spent the money to keep himself afloat while he worked with money coming in from other means later on that he intended to pay you back with (or sneak back into the marketing money without you knowing) that could explain it, but if there is no product to show that can't be the reason.
tl:dr; if he took money, can't account for the spending and refuses to show a product (eg: it doesn't exist) lawyer up.
I basically told him that I don't understand anything about computers, and that I'd like some proof to appease my concerns. An easy way would be for him to send the money back, and since initially he had claimed to be very well-off, he certainly had the money to spend. He could have lied about being so well-off, I suppose.
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What to do now? Send a stern email explaining the situation: you think he's ripping you off, if he can't produce evidence of a product being worked on or provide an explanation of where the money is, request the money back, if he can't provide that then I'd suggest contacting a lawyer (got any contracts?). If he can't explain where the money is, show a product or return the money, in that situation I'd suggest lawyering up.
It's possible he got sidetracked, or it was more work than expected, but money given as "marketing budget" for a product that he can't show exists should not have gone anywhere. If it was wages, or a fee for the work then sure he could explain it away, but marketing money? Having been in this situation on the other side, in my case I got extremely busy with work that was paying me directly and didn't have time for the side-project work, but I didn't take any money intended for post-launch and spend it in the interim... that crosses the line from slow/lazy to wilfully ripping someone off.
If he had spent the money to keep himself afloat while he worked with money coming in from other means later on that he intended to pay you back with (or sneak back into the marketing money without you knowing) that could explain it, but if there is no product to show that can't be the reason.
tl:dr; if he took money, can't account for the spending and refuses to show a product (eg: it doesn't exist) lawyer up.
I basically told him that I don't understand anything about computers, and that I'd like some proof to appease my concerns. An easy way would be for him to send the money back, and since initially he had claimed to be very well-off, he certainly had the money to spend. He could have lied about being so well-off, I suppose.