Ask HN: CTO wants me to leave

1. The situation is poisoned. If you stay and force a battle of wills, it will be hugely distracting in a way that adds no value to the company (and remember, building a great company is why you did this in first place), not to mention personally painful for you. That the CEO and CTO have lost confidence in you means it's just going to suck from here on out. Even if you win, that just means disempowering the CTO (or replacement CTO if the current one leaves in frustration, which doesn't seem improbable). Maybe the CTO is wrong, but if he's saddled with someone he doesn't want and can't get rid of because of special cofounder status, it's going to create a pretty shitty working environment for everyone. And if he wins (say, because the CEO votes you out), then that's the same as you sliding out anyway.

2. The CTO definitely hasn't overstepped his boundaries; he's doing his job. He's responsible for running the engineering team and delivering a product. If he thinks you're holding the company back, he'd be being irresponsible not to do something about it. Of course, he could be wrong and there's no way for me (or anyone else here) to determine that. So you have to ask yourself what you really think is best for the company. If it's you leaving, tanking the company in a huge fight (or just dragging it down by sticking around) will just destroy whatever equity you have in it. If it's you staying and you're confident (after putting aside your ego, considering it from other peoples' views, etc), then yeah, convince the CEO and then together fire the CTO for being so terribly wrong. But it's not an issue of boundaries. So: would you hire you?

3. Closely related: what are you doing cofounding companies with that little confidence in yourself? If someone came to you and said, "hey, I haven't coded much and don't have a lot of experience", would you think that was a wise investment? Because you went all in on that investment. Do some work with some guidance and lower stakes and learn your craft. I don't at all mean that as "noob go home" (I have no idea how good you actually are); I mean that your description basically acknowledges you don't think you're the right person for the job of technical cofounder.

4. Your CEO sounds clueless and you should take this opportunity to bail out. If the CTO is wrong about you, the CEO's confidence in him is misplaced and he's also allowing unnecessary complications to destroy his engineering team. If the CTO is right that you don't even belong on the team, then why did the CEO partner with you in the first place? Maybe he thought of you as a temporary pawn to sacrificed at the right time. Maybe he just doesn't know what he's doing. None of those are good. Get out.

5. You say in one of the comments that you don't want to lose your unvested shares and that you've taken on a lot of opportunity cost. The whole point of the vesting is that you get what you've worked for. If you don't think the vested equity you have is commensurate with the work you've done, working more isn't going to fix that. You'll just continue getting screwed, putting in more time and earning the same vesting that you're unhappy with. I know you probably feel pot-committed, but the best thing to do when you have a bad hand is fold your cards and move on.

6. Startups are hard. They're painful work, especially when things go bad, to the point that I wonder why we do it in the best of situations. If you throw in the stress of trying to prove you even belong, it's just shitty. Save your happiness and leave.

7. It's important not to think of these decisions as an affront to your pride. The never-say-die bromide of startup cofounders the world over is mostly bullshit. Make sure you're in a healthy situation with a real chance of success. Quitting isn't shameful, but sabotaging your happiness and the value of your investment because it hurts your ego is very unwise. I don't know whether or not I'd be wise in that situation either--I certainly have plenty of ego--but of course that's why you asked us: we're not involved.

My guess is that once you leave, clear your head, and figure out what you want to do next, you'll look back and say, "wow, I'm glad I got out of that."

First, you're asking the wrong question. Whether CTO Boy has "a point," and/or is within "boundaries" (whatever that means) is just self-inflicted misdirection. Reflect on these questions later. For now, the important thing is to make sure that you aren't haunted by doubts over whether you were fairly treated, so that your ability to learn and grow from this experience isn't hopelessly tainted by acrimony and distrust.

Second, recognize that once you've lost the confidence of your co-founder(s), for whatever reason(s), it's best to let them go. It's a free world, or at least it ought to be, and nobody should have to work with anybody they don't want to. That being said, your stake as a founder is worth something, and if the others want to take the operation over for themselves, they need to buy you out at a fair price. Regardless of whether you're a 23-year-old n00b or if you're Marc Andreesen (-- say, wasn't he 23 when... never mind --) what you need to be doing right now is tapping every available resource -- every mentor, teacher, counselor, former manager, and experienced friend -- for an outside perspective. Hate to say it, but HN doesn't count. We don't know enough about your business to really understand your situation or know how to respond to it.

Third, don't undermine your short-term position with free concessions. If they intend to cut you loose, but nonetheless can't survive without your help for the next 3-6 more months, that sounds like value that you're uniquely qualified to supply, and if they want you to forego the long-term returns on that investment, they need to compensate you for that in the short term. So, DO consult with an attorney and/or a seasoned entrepeneur to make sure you're not getting screwed.

All that being said, if you can manage to let your co-founders go their own way while being neither a dick nor a pushover, the community will respect you for it further on up the road.

Good luck.

I've seen some founders, especially of the technical variety, who manage to get a business running and then attribute all of that to their personal brilliance, and that they therefore deserve all the power in the company. This means that they will be extremely toxic personalities for everyone else, which in turn can easily stunt a company.

I don't know if this is the case here, since we only hear this from your perspective... but it may be that it's not your coding skill actually that is in question, but your interpersonal skills and attitude.