

Ask HN: My cofounder has turned toxic. What should I do? - bad_cofounder

Hello HN,<p>I cofounded a startup last year and things have been going well, we have a product&#x2F;customers and the future looks very bright for the company. I love my work and am contributing a lot of value to this future.<p>My cofounder is also a very valuable person in the company, but recently (for several months now) they have been increasingly toxic. Specifically they are insulting me, calling my motives into question, and getting upset with me over petty issues. It has gotten to the point that I dread interacting with them.<p>We are both necessary for the company to continue, so one of us leaving and the company continuing is not really an option. If I decide to leave now the company will probably fail.<p>What should I do? What would you do?
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doublerebel
Cofounder splits are the most common cause of startup failure [1].
Nevertheless you need a cofounder for countless reasons, primarily for
perspective. Perspective is probably what you're missing in this disagreement.
Can you see the issue from your cofounder's point of view? What deep down in
your cofounder do you think truly causes this issue?

You (both) should have a mentor throughout the startup process -- this is a
mistake I made myself until too late. Have (either of) you discussed this with
your mentor? What does your mentor think?

Last but perhaps most importantly: What are you legally (contractually)
obligated to at this point in the venture? How is the company split and who
owns the corp and IP? Depending on the legal structure you may have limited
options for resolution.

Best wishes, protect yourself legally but always take the high road in your
founder relationship. It's like a marriage and there may be rainbows on the
other side if you can learn to help each other through the low spots.

[1] [http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/24/smallbusiness/startups-
entre...](http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/24/smallbusiness/startups-entrepreneur-
cofounder/)

