

Should I leave my startup? - thisisnotreal

This is a throwaway account as I'm pretty active on HN along with my partner.<p>I've been running a startup on the east coast with my co-founder for about a year and a half with only a third of that as serious time as we both had other commitments.<p>We are a tech/non-tech partnership, myself being the tech side.  As such, I've built pretty much all of our software and website.<p>I think we do some pretty cool stuff, and we have customers that agree.  However, I'm getting strong urges to move on.<p>For starters, I'm not having fun working on this company anymore.  Our backend is temperamental and I feel like the workload I have is large enough that it's difficult to stay on top of everything.  I also don't feel like our team or environment is fostering creativity and energy.  I have little to no motivation anymore and I'm not excited about the product or even getting up in the morning to go work on it.  I feel like my co-founder is talks down to me, lectures me, and is extremely stubborn.  He does his part though, so I'm not complaining about that.<p>I believe the company <i>could</i> go somewhere, and it already has a bit.  However, growth is extremely slow (read: I won't be making a real salary any time soon) and I wonder where we would be with a different team that had better energy, creativity, and synergy where new ideas were more willing to be explored or even just considered without making the idea-maker feel put down for bringing it up.<p>I've had some new opportunities present themselves that I can't get out of my head.  Opportunities with teams that seem far more energetic and fun and will push me to improve. I want to surround myself with smart programmers that will make me a better one.  Right now I'm very much on my own and I'm getting tired of that.  On top of that, I have a strong urge to start making money and building some savings.<p>With this company (as with most I'm sure), there is a constant "what if?"  What if I just stay a few more months?  Could that big break be right around the corner?  What if I'm not giving this company enough time to see where it goes?  What if I don't jump on the opportunities elsewhere, what would I be missing out on?<p>This startup has been great for my career and personal development and I don't regret it one bit, but I want to move on.<p>Any advice?  Thoughts about how I should leave (it's 50/50 ownership right now) would help too.<p>Thanks.
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canterburry
As a founder, you are the only one with the power to change the things you
don't like about your company. If you don't think you have the right people
with the right energy, change that aspect of the company. It sounds a bit like
you have capitulated to how things are...

I worked for a startup once where the founders had hired a CEO to manage
things. They just stood by while the CEO ran the company into the ground even
though it was in their power to step in at any moment. They chose not to have
a confrontation over having a company. Don't be that owner.

Have a very serious conversation with your co-founder about how you feel and
that you are on the brink of pulling out. Maybe that will make him listen to
you, but have a very well laid out plan for what you want and how you want
things to be, including any people you may want to replace.

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jacquesm
This is not going to be something you will likely have fun reading, but read
on anyway.

Starting a company together means you're in for the good and the bad. I
understand you're not feeling good in the current situation, and that there
are many factors, including the relationship with your co-founder at the root
of this.

But you don't have to sleep with your co-founder, just get the job done and
make it in to a working relationship. Try to discuss the problem openly and
try to chart a path to where you want to be. Whatever opportunities have come
your way will need to take a back-seat to solving your exit in an orderly
manner first.

Your question to me is mostly rhetorical, I think you are looking for
confirmation that you should leave. I'm not going to tell you whether you
should or should not, I feel that once someone gets to the point of posting
stuff like this they've made up their mind already and any advice you give to
the contrary is likely to be ignored anyway.

I would just moderate the whole thing by suggesting you take your time over
this, work out together with your co-founder on how you can transition to
someone taking your place without wrecking what you've built up, and without
using your newfound opportunities as a motivation to leave in a hurry.

That's the best for everybody involved, including you, you do not want to be
known as the guy that will hang around until he finds something better.

best of luck, I hope you guys/girls can work it out without losing what you've
put so much energy in.

    
    
      Jacques

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solost
My suggestion before doing anything else, decide whether the real problem is
the other founder or the business. Once you answer that question it can make
the decision making process either. Looking at everything you have said, my
interpretation is that you are basically displeased with:

1\. Your non technical co-founder and the way he interacts with you

2\. The lack of a technical team both from a work load and social perspective

If you really believe, like you say you do, that the business is going to go
somewhere then it would be really foolish to walk away before exploring all
avenues for solving issues 1 and 2 above.

I'd consider a heart to heart with your co-founder and explain very clearly
what is bothering you about your interactions together and see if there is a
way to solve your issues. I'd also look at the business assets and see if
there would be a way to hire, even if part-time, another technical person to
assist you. If neither of these approaches brings you relief, consider buying
out your partner if it is something you could manage to do?

It isn't always bad to walk away from a project. However with what you have
said, it opens a lot of questions about you personally as well. Starting a
business is always extremely difficult, my last suggestion would be to take a
really good look at yourself in the mirror and ask would you be leaving for
the right reasons? If the answer is yes and nothing else works then you have
to leave.

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thisisnotreal
Your interpretation is correct and thanks for the honest comment. I do not
enjoy working with him anymore and I need to talk to him about it. I could not
afford to buy him out and I'm not even sure I would want to as he has
expressed his desire to continue on. I am starting to think that I don't like
the product because I don't like working with my co-founder.

I have been getting mixed advice from friends and my gf who seem to think I'm
working on a project going nowhere. For the amount of time we've spent on it,
it hasn't gone anywhere near where we have dreamed.

The product itself always sounds good in conversation, but has been an
extremely hard sell so far. It rarely meets the user's expectations or ours
and doesn't provide value for everyone who pays for it, which is tough.

I'm really torn, because I've been trying to figure out if I want to leave for
good reasons or because it's tough and I see unique opportunities that might
not be there next year and I want to jump on them.

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hga
" _I feel like my co-founder is talks down to me, lectures me, and is
extremely stubborn. He does his part though...._ "

I have to disagree. No co-founder who trashes the morale of his partner(s) (or
others in the company) is really "doing his part" to make the company succeed.

As others have said, try to work things out, but it sounds like either he
doesn't respect you or is incapable of expressing that if he does. A big
enough, soon enough improvement in either is unlikely.

Speak to him frankly (should be easy in so far as you're willing to walk if
ths can't be worked out), give him a short but bounded chance to improve, and
then the right path should be obvious.

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perucoder
Could it be that you're burnt out from this startup plus your other
commitments? Is it possible for you to focus on the startup full time?

Since you're one of the founders, can you get rid of your current team and
build the team you want to work with?

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zohebv
Out of curiosity, can you tell us more about your startup? The website etc. I
am sorry, I lack the experience to help you with any advice regarding your
current situation.

