Owed large amount of money - what to do?

[dang65]

Either that or he's topped himself.

...using that business noose.

[cojak]

Go to Thomas Higgins they're old hands at getting yer money back...

[DS23]

If I put my hands up and walk away then the company then the product will not survive and I will never get any money. I have a document dated a few months ago which lists all outstanding invoices and is an "intention to pay" document but doubt it would hold up in a court of law. Suing the owner is interesting but he has huge loans to repay, taken out to keep us going. So, back to square one.
iarmst

if it was me the owner would have get another loan to pay up a sizeable amount of owed money immediately or lose it all.

[MarillionFan]

Try Tony Soprano!

[d000hg]

So they pay you €3000/month but despite this you racked up €160k additional owed? Meaning they pay about 40% of your full billable hours?

Why will the company/product fail if you leave - if it's already selling can't they continue to sell without doing further development for a bit?

If you think the product is long-term viable, you could decide to tay and cut a deal where even after they eventually pay you, you continue to get x% of profits. Putting yourself in like you have been means you are more a backer than simply work-for-hire and should be entitled to push for more long-term to reward you.

Could you find a cheaper developer or two (maybe abroad) and train them up? You could then go and get a new contract, leaving the new dev team in place at a more affordable rate (€7500/month is quite a lot for a startup to pay one person), and still keep collecting the money they can spare for the next few years. The company may spend less on developers, you still get money from them, AND you can find another paying gig.