Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#21

Post by pseudotrue » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:51 AM UTC

cantlookaway wrote: post #3

9oliYQjP wrote: post #2

First off, I'm sorry about your situation. Nobody here will be able to judge with any degree of accuracy whether he has a point. I personally would not look at this situation as a technical one; this is a business relationship situation. Regardless of whether there is any grain of truth, the CTO has lost confidence in you. Not just a little bit. He has asked you to leave. The rest of my advice assumes the CEO (your c…

Thank you for taking the time to respond. > The rest of my advice assumes the CEO (your co-founder) has quite a bit of confidence in the CTO. This is the case, it is in my interest however to remain in the company because my equity is vested, the sooner I leave the less I will get in return, apart from my time, and opportunity cost I invested all my personal wealth.

> it is in my interest however to remain in the company because my equity is vested

This is negotiable. But you shouldn't necessarily be the one to negotiate it, so you should probably start talking to your own lawyer (not the company's).

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#22

Post by mmccaff » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:52 AM UTC

You helped build something to a point that a job position was created for the CTO, and if you are passionate about what you're working on and eager to learn, it's unfortunate that he took the approach of telling you that you "are not good enough" rather than mentoring you and helping you grow as a developer. I'm sorry for your situation, it's rough.

That said, is this someone who you want to be working closely with? It could be something in your work relationship that is hard to get past. As others have said, understand what you are entitled to in terms of contracts and equity, and try having an open conversation with the CEO if you haven't already. Handle it professionally, and keep in mind that if you are desperately needed now (as you said) that you have some bargaining leverage. :)

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#23

Post by camus2 » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:52 AM UTC

You founded the company,doesnt matter how bad you are at coding there is more to running a company than coding skills.

I'd fire the CTO,no matter how good he is,you're the boss,he is merely an adviser,he shouldnt be talking to you like that. What matters in business is loyalty, not skills.You'll learn it soon enough.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#24

Post by randomflavor » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:54 AM UTC

Are you and your partner equal partners? Can you do more stuff on the biz side? product management/dev side? He's prob right, you shouldnt be coding enterprise level delivery with hackery crappy code. Be of service elsewhere or it will be a pain in the ass.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#25

Post by stormbrew » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:54 AM UTC

jf22 wrote: post #12

I have no idea why people are actually recommending moving on. You not only own part of the company but can use this experience to grow both technically and professionally. Don't waste the chance to learn more than you ever could. Are you taking a salary? I don't see how you could contribute negatively to the company if you are at least somewhat productive and know the domain.

If there's a reason to leave, it's that the situation might be too far gone to salvage. From the one side we can see here it seems unlikely that the CTO has kept this conversation/complaint limited to the OP, and his desire to remove one of the founders is already undermining that founder's leadership position in the company.

Getting out with compensation for the equity or accelerated vesting might be the best case scenario, depending on how far this has gone.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#26

Post by rubyfan » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:55 AM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #5

He's trying to fuck you over. Remind him that he works for you, not the other way around. Start looking for his replacement. Check with a lawyer about the security of your own stake and make sure you are good with the business guy, because the CTO has probably been whispering poison in his ear about you.

+1 he works for you. He's got you ready leave because you doubt your abilities. It's one thing if your company needs all rock star engineers to make a product push but if it was that I'm sure you'd see it that way. That's an opportunity for you to shift focus to something else but it just doesn't sound like that. It sounds like he's trying to get rid of a technical founder. Don't let him.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#27

Post by noodle » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:56 AM UTC

cantlookaway wrote: post #3

9oliYQjP wrote: post #2

First off, I'm sorry about your situation. Nobody here will be able to judge with any degree of accuracy whether he has a point. I personally would not look at this situation as a technical one; this is a business relationship situation. Regardless of whether there is any grain of truth, the CTO has lost confidence in you. Not just a little bit. He has asked you to leave. The rest of my advice assumes the CEO (your c…

Thank you for taking the time to respond. > The rest of my advice assumes the CEO (your co-founder) has quite a bit of confidence in the CTO. This is the case, it is in my interest however to remain in the company because my equity is vested, the sooner I leave the less I will get in return, apart from my time, and opportunity cost I invested all my personal wealth.

> I invested all my personal wealth.

I think this is being overlooked. You invested all your personal wealth into this company and in return you got unvested shares?

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#28

Post by cheetahtech » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:56 AM UTC

I say tell him to fuck off. No offense to him or you, but if your willing to keep learning code, then say no and don't look back.

The great thing about being human is our ability to learn. If your willing to learn, then there is nothing to argue about. You want to keep doing this and that is that. It took me 7 years to get where I am now, but I believe I am excellent at coding, where I didn't know anything 7 years ago. So if your willing, tell him to back the f off.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#29

Post by sandGorgon » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:02 AM UTC

Sorry to barge in on this thread - but I have a question that turns this on its head.

Let's say you are a brilliant CTO/cofounder, but you are already doing something. Now you had this idea (or someone else had this idea) ... and you want to set them up for seed/series-A round and then you want to leave. assumption - you trust the CEO to not screw you.

How do you structure your equity compensation so that you have some benefit after 5 years? One of the thoughts I had was to show the short-term CTO as an investor with vested stock (in return for some negligible investment ... say 100$). Does this protect you from future investor rounds ?

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#30

Post by hoodoof » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:04 AM UTC

camus2 wrote: post #23

You founded the company,doesnt matter how bad you are at coding there is more to running a company than coding skills. I'd fire the CTO,no matter how good he is,you're the boss,he is merely an adviser,he shouldnt be talking to you like that. What matters in business is loyalty, not skills.You'll learn it soon enough.

>>What matters in business is loyalty, not skills.You'll learn it soon enough.

You got that one right.