It was not too wise to start out down this path with your co-founder in another country - with that said - my advice to you would be to simply trust your gut. Based on what you have described, I don't think equity is the problem. There seems to be an established history of 'flakiness' and he clearly doesn't seem to share your passion. If you continue to sense his heart just isn't in the project then you should cut your losses and sever the relationship. If you do split up make sure you get a waiver from him.
Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
11–20 of 21 posts
Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#12Ideally you should be in same location, I find that face time is crucial. I can relate to you as I'm the business/SEO/marketing/product guy as well.
I had to fire my technical co-founder because it turned out that he wasn't all that "technical" after all and lost my faith in him.
It took me months to do it, even with my mentors/advisors telling me to do it. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and let it drag on for too long, when in fact it should have been an easy decision to part ways.
Long story short, trust your gut.. if you're not feeling it, pull out the axe, don't waste your time and hustle to find a suitable replacement. I know it's easier said than done, but it CAN be done...
Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#13How did you end up with 70% compared to his 30%?
i put in 70% of the capital, he put in 30%.
Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#14How did you end up with 70% compared to his 30%?
This could be part of the problem. A huge benefit of an equal partnership is that neither feels justified in feeling that the other person should do more of the work. Even if you're intellectually okay with an uneven split it can gnaw at you subconsciously and effect motivation.
I suspect that this might be part of the problem, he has mentioned that he would like to re-negotiate the equity split. However, I feel like giving him a larger proportion of the company to solve a motivation issue is not the right thing to do.
Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Before you do anything else, at all, take care of the paperwork. If you two part ways before everything's been formalized, you'll create a cloud of legal uncertainty over your start-up that'll make it very difficult to raise or have an exit. In your agreement, you both should have a long period of founder vesting. Then, should you part ways, you can give your co-founder his share of equity multiplied by whatever frac…
Exactly! Get with an attorney quick. Other option is to find funding and buy him out now. Sometimes investors like stepping in where there is a shakeup, they feel like a savior, get more equity and presumably, control. If you can do this, part of the deal will be the full release agreement along with ip assignment.
At this early stage of a startup before we have scaled, the leaving of a co-founder is likely a bad signal that would scare away any investors.
Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#16That's a tough situation to be in. It's probably going to ruin your friendship. Do you have a contract? I have friends that are great coders, but I know they probably wouldn't be a good co-founder. I also have some friends that would make great co-founders. It sounds to me like your friend would be a better employee. Founders of a company should be sacrificing and busting-ass every waking moment. Could you ask him to…
no contract, we talked about shareholder agreements but nothing put in writing. I have asked him to move temporarily, after months of "nagging him", he has agreed to come for a month at a time. But I feel like it's kinda self-defeating, I should not have to nag him to get him to do this.
How do you have a 70/30 split with no contract?
Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#17Ideally you should be in same location, I find that face time is crucial. I can relate to you as I'm the business/SEO/marketing/product guy as well. I had to fire my technical co-founder because it turned out that he wasn't all that "technical" after all and lost my faith in him. It took me months to do it, even with my mentors/advisors telling me to do it. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and let it drag on for…
I had my reservations before we started about the remote arrangement, but started anyway.
The thing is that he is good at his chosen field of technical expertise(with years of experience in big companies), but I am finding out that if he needs to learn new technologies quickly, it is a huge struggle.
Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
This could be part of the problem. A huge benefit of an equal partnership is that neither feels justified in feeling that the other person should do more of the work. Even if you're intellectually okay with an uneven split it can gnaw at you subconsciously and effect motivation.
I suspect that this might be part of the problem, he has mentioned that he would like to re-negotiate the equity split. However, I feel like giving him a larger proportion of the company to solve a motivation issue is not the right thing to do.
Well, personally I'd never start a partnership with someone that wasn't even. If they're not worth half they're not worth partnering with.
There are exceptions: if I invested in the company I might end up with more equity based on that investment, but it would still start at 50/50 on day one.
No one feels bad if you put in $500k to get an extra 20%. But just arbitrarily deciding one guy gets an extra 20%? That's going to gnaw at you later.
You said you put in 70% of the money and he put in 30%. Is he willing to match your contribution to get himself up to 50%?
Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#19Re: Ask HN: I think I want to breakup with my co-founder, help me
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suspect that this might be part of the problem, he has mentioned that he would like to re-negotiate the equity split. However, I feel like giving him a larger proportion of the company to solve a motivation issue is not the right thing to do.
Well, personally I'd never start a partnership with someone that wasn't even. If they're not worth half they're not worth partnering with. There are exceptions: if I invested in the company I might end up with more equity based on that investment, but it would still start at 50/50 on day one. No one feels bad if you put in $500k to get an extra 20%. But just arbitrarily deciding one guy gets an extra 20%? That's goin…
not really possible, he doesn't have the money.