Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 293 posts

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#71

Post by gaoshan »

carbocation wrote: post #65

You have phrased this as an almost apologetic post, focusing on your ability to write code. An analogy to medicine might be worrying about your ability to take a good history and physical exam, but in the meanwhile the patient is bleeding in front of you. The problem is not your ability to write code - the CTO even admits as much when he says he needs you now but wants to replace you later. Your code is desperately n…

>You have phrased this as an almost apologetic post

And I bet this is why the CTO has taken the path that they have. They sense the same thing that we sense from the tone of this comment so they are going after that perceived weakness.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#72

Post by asabjorn »

jw2013 wrote: post #54

> My question is, does he have a point? No. He is making the wrong assumption here "that he wouldn't hire me if I wasn't already a founder and not what the company needs". First you ARE a founder- I genuinely do not believe you can't learn the knowledge you needed given how motivated you are. And you are learning. Second, he already admit you are what the company needs (at least during this 3-6 months), so why is he…

I agree that it is a red flag that the CTO on one hand admits that the co-founder is valuable in the 3-6 months it takes to raise a round, and on the other hand asks him to leave after fundraising. At the very least this seems to indicate that the co-founder is essential for fundraising.

I want to stress that you as a co-founder should never let anyone talk you into staying with the company through fundraising and then leave. Telling an investor that a co-founder is leaving just after fundraising does not instill confidence, and planning to leave without telling prospective investors violates their trust. If you do this then you'll get a bad reputation with investors and it quite honestly makes you look like a bad person, so don't ever do that. If the cap-table needs to be redistributed and fixed up do the cleanup before the prospective in-laws come over (investors), as this kind of mess benefits no-one.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#73

Post by saraid216 »

gtCameron wrote: post #9

The question I would try and answer if I were in your shoes is the following: Does he want me to leave the company or does he want me to stop writing production code for the product? If its the first one, there is likely a personal issue between the two of you that needs to be resolved one way or another. If you think the second option is what he is really trying to communicate, then I would look for other opportunit…

> If you think the second option is what he is really trying to communicate, then I would look for other opportunities to contribute to the company.

This was my thought. It would be worth looking into roles like developer evangelist, if it makes sense for your company: you're clearly technical enough to make things happen, and you have the domain knowledge to be very useful.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#74

Post by sfall »

bradhe wrote: post #53
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.

> He's trying to fuck you over. Do you always assume people are full of malice based on one side of the story or...

I would be pissed that out of a four "man" team (2 founders, 2 employees) that the first employee would have the gall to ask them to leave. How is this acceptable? Only in the world of companies seeking funding.

If the CTO came and said hey in 6 months I think we should discuss you stepping away from coding and into a new role. I wouldn't want to hear it but if they told me to leave my very small company I would think they crossed a line. The CTO maybe management but he isn't the owner.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#75

Post by anigbrowl »

bigiain wrote: post #61
karuneshkaushal wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> .. the CTO has probably been whispering poison in his ear about you. This just has to be true.

FWIW, he may just have been saying exactly what the OP says himself: "I have improved significantly in the last few months from where I was (generally unstructured development, no tests, poor formatting / naming etc., but functional, generally coding to working with others instead of by myself) but he has said that it's not enough. We have hired another coder who I get along well with and I have learned from." There'…

It's one thing to say 'to be honest Bob, your code is pretty messy...' I'd have no problem with that, indeed as CTO it is part of his job to be honest and say that something should be rewritten or someone with deeper experience brought in to work on part of it if that's what's going to make the product better.

But it's another thing entirely to be telling a founder that they should be leaving. This is saying 'not only are you not good enough to write the production code, you're so awful that you shouldn't even be involved in the company you founded any more,' as if the OP has no possibility of developing him/herself as an owner of the business.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#77

Post by headhuntermdk »

It's your company.. If your CTO is approaching you like that, send him packing with a pink slip. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

There is a hell of lot more to building a company than just code and if he can talk to you any way he wants to without any consequences, then you have truly lost.

As others have said, you are supposed to hire people better than you, but that doesn't mean you have to take shit from them either.

Bottom line is don't be a doormat and be prepared to put "boot to ass" if necessary.

Good luck

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#78

Post by crater500 »

First of all the CTO was hired to fix the shit they were hired for. Secondly, that amount of disrespect from a new employee who did not risk anything to start a start-up should be fired immediately. Kick that a-hole to the curb as they will be a cancer in the company.

Re: Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

#79

Post by danbmil99 »

noodle wrote: post #27
cantlookaway wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ?

This right here. The money OP invested -- whether hard cash, or equivalent deferred pay or both -- should have resulted in direct, fully vested stock, just as it does for angels and VC's. (to clarify: it should vest at the rate that the work is performed, not over some arbitrary schedule).

There's this underlying meme in our community that "elbow grease" investment -- working for low pay, no benefits, rejecting other career opportunities -- is somehow worth less than an investor's cash. IMSHO, it's just the opposite -- cash typically doesn't draw down one's pool of emotional well-being and spirit the way hard work does. Work investment should be rewarded with a premium, not treated as somehow less than just money.

Post reply on HN