Ask HN: My co-founder sux. What can I do ?

Disclaimer: Long time HN, written from a new frow-away account.

Intro:

Almost a year back, I met a (not so close) friend, who like me, quit his job and was looking to strike out on his own. After some "dating" we decided to start a company. I was to write the site and he was to do the bizdev/sales.

Half a year later: The site is up and running. We have invested some of our money and spent months of work on it. And now came the second part. He needed to go out and start getting customers while I continued ironing out the tech parts.

Here things started to take a turn. He never truly fails, but constantly gets very average (and below) results. Reading some of the emails he sends and accompanying him to a meeting or two, showed he is far from what I would of wanted.

Current state: - Most of the tech stuff is done - We are getting traction and sales are starting to come in - Or deals are pretty lame (compared to a direct competitor who has 10x better deals)

While we are slowly growing, I am constantly worried about staying in this business (as this might be my only shot at a venture - savings are running low).

Has anyone been in a situation like this ? I would love some advise..

EDIT: To clarify: We have spoken on the issue and he admits he is not doing too well. He has suggested we join hands at sales. Sadly I am not good either. There is nothing else he can do to benefit the company.

We both are at the end of our savings, buying each other out is not an option

First off you should be talking to him and not to us, have you voiced your concerns? What was his response? Come up with a plan on how he can do better and what you expect from him.

If he doesn't execute on that plan then it's time to talk about buying out his share or getting someone else to buy it out. Do you have a partner agreement? What are your options?

Is there a clause in your partnership agreement where one partner can buy the other out? Who owns the greater share? If you have 51% of the voting rights, you can boot him pretty quick, but if it's 50-50, you may have an arbitration option whereby you can decide how to remove him from the partnership. Sounds like you need a loan, and/or a sales(wo)man instead of a deadbeat.

If you plan to talk to him about it (you should) then make sure you identify some specific examples of where you feel he is under performing - otherwise he could think your just finding excuses/passing blame for the sales not going well. Brainstorm (together if you like) ways to improve those areas.

This question is asked here with some regularity - it's one of the most common issues in startups. The consensus is almost invariably:

  - talk to him
  - if it's still not working out part ways
  - offer to buy him/her out if you can afford it
  - don't leave anything hanging (unresolved ownership issues etc)

(good luck!)

I agree. Sounds like the person isn't committed. There are many reasons for that but the bottom line is they won't get you anywhere. The upside is if they're not fully into it, they're more likely to let go. I say be direct and ask that person to walk away. If you have a product and some sales you have potential. You can sell that potential to another partner (now especially that you know what to look for).

If that person is unwilling to let go, consider pulling on a third person at an equal split. I'm sure some people would disagree with that but 1) if that person won't let go, you're probably running out of options or 2) the competition might turn your current partner 'on'.

If you have a product that does sell, I would do everything I could to make it grow. You've overcome a lot of obstacles to get to that point. If you can make it grow with a third, you'll have more options down the road (like buying the second partner out).