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Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

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Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#21

Post by tptacek »

What's your vesting plan? Please say you have one: if not, you can't safely pivot without your soon-to-be-former partner, because everything you do going forward will be tainted by the partnership.

I have been in legal drama over these issues before. It is not fun.

If your partnership isn't well documented, you should consider walking away from the work, including all the code.

People on HN have talked about how vesting is unfair. But this situation is the problem it protects you from. If a partner refuses sane standard vesting, run, don't walk.

Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#22

Post by KirinDave »

You need to be honest with your project partner and stop being so passive aggressive. Say, "You're not pulling your weight, you haven't done these things that you're supposed to do, and I've been continuing to work on the project. You can decide now: are you going to work on this or are we going to dissolve the partnership."

This is not being an asshole. This is being real and drawing a boundary beyond which you can no longer be taken advantage of.

The optimum result is they agree to leave the partnership. But either you need to eject this person from a project you want to continue to devote time to, or you need to move on to the next project. Your current situation is untenable.

Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#23

Post by Kequc »

It depends what you've signed, and what what you've signed says. All good contracts describe what happens in the worst case scenario and backwards from there. If it isn't one of those contracts it depends on the court, if it went to court. I'd imagine since it isn't yet earning money it wouldn't go to court soon.

It might be a good idea to seek a lawyer for a sit-down, that will cost you a little bit of money but they can give you a better overview of your situation. Send all paperwork you have ahead of the consultation.

It could boil down to be as simple as discussing the issue openly with him. That you want to keep working on it and that if he doesn't, would he mind signing it (whatever it is) over to you. If so, it's easy.

No matter what happens, if you feel that he is isn't the best partner to have on the project it's going to be easier to deal with now than it will be the longer you leave it.

Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#24

Post by weego »

naivedeveloper wrote: post #5
mod wrote: post #3

> I absolutely do not want to launch this product if I've done all of the work but do not have 100% equity. You haven't done all of the work. Given that the technical work is not complete, I'm not sure it's really a big deal that the non-technical work is not complete. You haven't given us an idea of how much non-technical work remains. Get the MVP ready, and then if your partner is not ready, ask him for a timeline…

I don't know how much non-technical work remains. If I knew that, then that would mean that I'm in charge of both technical and non-technical work, with him acting as an employee and not a co-founder. That I can't count on him to "own" his area within the company is precisely the problem.

That's not what knowing implies. Why don't you know? You claim to be committed to your idea yet only know half of what is going on and thus only half of what it is going to take to launch?

If you're so keen to get rid of him why do you not already know what he's not doing and needs to do?

How will getting rid of him help you if even you don't know what you need to do to make this work?

There's 2 of you, you don't have and can't afford to have silos yet.

Naive developer indeed

Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#25

Post by jkaarma »

With my startup just last week we concluded a deal where one ot he co-founders lost his substantial stake in the company and retained a very small percentage of the company. We've been working on the company full time for a year now.

The mistake we made was that we didn't make a shareholder agreement in the beginning when we started out that would clearly outline the responsibilities of each person and what they would have to do in order to keep their equity stake. As the company has evolved it has become clear that one of the founders is holding too much equity compared to the value he is creating for the company. Thanks to our investors we came to an agreement where he was bought out and retained only a small stake in the equity and is staying on part time and there's no bad blood. However if we had created a SHA in the beginning then it would have been very easy now to just legally take away his equity and go forward. So definitely make sure founders' responsibilities are outlined in a legally binding way before you get in business. However from what you're saying I would suggest that you don't get into business in the first place because everything about your company is still ahead basically and if you're getting into with someone who is showing lack of commitment already then it's most likely only gonna get worse in the future. If you own everything about the product already then just take it and walk away.

Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#26

Post by nandorsky »

Is your company generating revenue? Is it worth anything? Unless you're talking about equity split in a company that is worth millions engaging with a lawyer is a waste of money.

I wouldn't even waste time trying to re-engage him. If it's this early in the game and he is already checked out and it will only get worse. Sure, he may re-engage for a little but he'll go back to his ways in a matter of time.

You have the upper hand as the technical co-founder. If you leave he has nothing. Tell him you're out and go start another company. Ideas are a dime a dozen, the value is in the execution.

Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#27

Post by scandox »

gtf21 wrote: post #19
scandox wrote: post #12

When I was about 27 and had my own business I sat next to a billionaire at some charity dinner (in Ireland this can happen fairly easily - not because of the number of billionaires - which is low - but because of the tiny social scene). Anyway he asked me about my business. Then he said: "Do you have a business partner?". I said "Yes I do". He said "Get rid of them".

What is this anecdote supposed to tell the OP? I can only assume that the intent is to imply a link between this man's advice and his wealth, but data isn't the plural of anecdote.

Well I'm just relaying the advice of a somewhat successful man, which I didn't take. But to expand I think what he meant was if you're confident that you can do it and you mean to do it, then don't halve the responsibility. Take it all.

Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#28

Post by nandorsky »

smt88 wrote: post #16
sogen wrote: post #14

Get new website, pivot, forget about old website.

...unless that's something OP could be sued for. There's no way to know without reviewing the communications and agreements (either verbal or written) between the two founders. Which, again, is why it's insane to try to get legal advice from internet strangers.

You need money to sue. Unless the company is worth millions it would be financially irresponsible to sue over something that has no value.

Re: Ask HN: How to get rid of a co-founder

#30

Post by redm »

Co-founding a startup (or with multiple partners) is a very personal thing. People get emotional about it and there's almost always someone working harder, which causes discontent to grow over time. Eventually, you have to split or the party who provided more substance feels cheated. To make things worse, the value is often very subjective.

There's no easy way to handle this. It sounds like you are going to move on without him so just tell him that, offer him a small piece of the business and take the rest. If he doesn't want to cooperate, you can always just start a new entity and continue on your own.

Co-founder choice is the hardest and most impactful choice a startup can have. At a minimum, I try to craft an MOU that states what each person's responsibilities are, and that they contribute meaningfully over a 3 year vesting period. That ensures if either partner drops out, they transfer the equity to the partner continuing forward. That said, because of aforementioned reasons, even that is a mine-field.

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