Building a successful business is not as easy as it might seem to some. It requires money, time, and hard work. So, it’s natural to ask for help, especially in the beginning. 

Just like today’s OP did. He decided to build a start-up and his friends began helping with it, but they quit before it made any profit. Now, the business is a successful one, so the man wanted to thank his friends. Yet, his gratitude wasn’t taken as intended and he ended up being dubbed Kim Jong Il. 

More info: Reddit

Building a successful business is not as easy as it might seem, so getting help from people close to you is a good idea… most of the time

Image credits: drobotdean / Freepik (not the actual photo)

A man decided to give a start-up a chance and got his friends to help him do that

mage credits: bublikhaus / Freepik (not the actual photo)

They provided valuable help, but quit the project for various reasons before it started being profitable

Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

Now, when the business is successful, the man decides to show gratitude to his helpers by buying them fancy gifts

Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

He struggled to come up with a gift idea for one of his friends, so he asked his girlfriend, who revealed to him that the friend would rather get paid for his help

Image credits: throwawaygifts2346

The man refused to pay him, as it wasn’t a salary, just a gratitude gift, but when the friend threatened to sue him, he decided to cut him off, along with another friend, who acted similarly

At some point in his life, the OP began working on a little start-up to make some money on the side. At first, some of his friends, who he dubbed Eric, Henry, and Robert in the post, helped him. But they quit the project for various reasons before it made a dime. 

Now, the business is so successful that the original poster’s family can comfortably live off of it. According to Investopedia, as many as 90% of startups tend to fail, so it’s nice to see that the author wasn’t among them.

Since his friends’ help was critical in this success, he wanted to express his gratitude by giving them something they would like. He decided to host a housewarming party in his new home, which would be a “thank you” as well, and where he would give them fancy presents. 

For Eric, who is into filmmaking, he bought an expensive drone/camera, while for Henry, he bought court-side tickets to his favorite NBA team. As of 2024, such tickets might cost around $ 3K-5K, depending on the game and the sold-out seats. 

The OP had issues coming up with something to give his third friend, Robert. So, he made a deal that his girlfriend would drop hints and would see what he wanted. Not long after, she came back to tell him that instead of any kind of item, Robert wanted cash. 

The author wasn’t planning to give money. While technically such a gift is appropriate, some see it as a less sincere option than an item that is suited to a person’s interests and the man wanted to do the latter for his friends. 

Robert’s wish for cash didn’t come out of nowhere. Turns out, there was a sob story going around about how the OP is like Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s totalitarian dictator, who lived lavishly while his people starved. Basically, he was gifting “just” basketball tickets, while he ran a “7-figure business.” 

Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

This rumor was wrong on so many levels. First of all, the OP himself is Vietnamese, not North Korean, so as he said it’s “not even accurately racist.” 

Second of all, he isn’t as rich as they make him out to be. Yes, he’s doing pretty well, but he still has to pay the mortgage and his in-laws helped with their down payment. 

Still, his friends expect him to pay them for the help they provided back in the day when the project wasn’t even profitable. But he wasn’t planning to give them a “salary,” just a thank you gift. After all, their input helped, but he was the one who purchased and created it, and never demanded they invest their money or hours. So, in such a case, expensive gifts seemed way more appropriate than simply money. 

This led to the housewarming party being canceled, and Robert kept sending angry messages to the OP, threatening to sue if he didn’t pay his “fair share.” Having financial hardships is understandable, but becoming nasty to your friend over it isn’t. 

The only friend who received and appreciated his gift was Eric. The other two were cut off, as in the original poster’s eyes, having financial hardships is understandable, but becoming nasty to your friend over it isn’t. Yet, he still pondered whether it was the right thing to end the friendship. 

The netizens assured him it was. His friends didn’t invest anything into the project and they dropped out pretty early in its conception, so expecting some kind of a payout is a jerk-ish move from their side. In fact, getting them presents was a kind thing for him to do, but sadly, it wasn’t valued. 

Well, it’s always sad to lose friends, especially over petty reasons like this. At the same time, maybe this way you’ll dodge a way more hurtful bullet in the future.

He wondered whether he acted too harshly, but netizens reassured him that, in his case, it was the best he could have done and he doesn’t owe his friends anything

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