

Technical cofounder lost motivation - what now? - purpleclock

My CTO lost motivation to complete the product we originally decided to make. I can't code what he's coding. The product is probably about 90 % done already, the last 10 % should take no more than two weeks, but he is dragging his feet and has even admitted that he has lost all enthusiasm for the product.<p>I do not want to find a new CTO, I just want suggestions on how to finish this product - should I try motivate him? How? If I can't manage to motivate him, should I pay someone else to finish the product? Should I just do nothing and wait? He said he will eventually finish it and to please not bother him, so I stopped asking so as not to annoy him.  I just said to let me know if he needs anything.  However, I am really concerned - that was a week ago and no updates at all from him on how the product is doing.<p>We have a second product we want to make after this one and he is still enthusiastic about that. I suspect he just wants to scrap this one and move on to the next product, but I still believe in this product and in any case, it's so close to done we should just finish and launch it.<p>What are your suggestions? Thanks in advance.
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crawfordcomeaux
This is a problem of faith/belief. You believe in the business and he doesn't.
The most compelling way to convert from one faith to another (without
resorting to coercion) is through a religious experience. So in the spirit of
"Show, don't tell," provide him with an experience that will alter his
beliefs.

In religion, this is usually via miracles. Luckily, you're just dealing with a
product, so your job is a little easier. If the product is at a point where
play-testing it with potential users is possible, then that would be my
immediate course of action. Try to get several individuals or small groups
from your target market to attend play-testing events (free food/booze =
attendance incentive). For the first event, I'd ask the CTO to facilitate
while I observed and alternate for each consecutive session.

The two of you need to examine the possible outcomes beforehand and agree on
ways to identify whether it's the product or the facilitator that's producing
the results. For instance, should each session he facilitate result in low
interest, but each session you facilitate result in positive results, either
you're a good salesman or his negativity is infecting others (or both).

It's important to discuss and agree upon how to interpret the results of the
play-testing ahead of time so that you are both on the same page. On that same
line, you'll want to confirm with him that this is a plan that could
potentially change his mind about the product. If so, then ask him what he
needs to see in order for that to happen. If not, then find out what, if
anything, will alter his perspective.

If he's not open to having a change of heart, then you may want to find a new
CTO or move on to the next project.

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tronicron
Been there. Had a similar situation on a one-project company I started with a
friend.

In my case I was the developer and I had worked two months past our decision
to transfer the company to him, the non-technical founder. When I asked him
(probably somewhat aggressively) to give me a few days off to get started
after New Year's day he hired another developer. He went silent and hid this
from me for three weeks until I found out from the client why nothing was a
priority any more.

Eventually that new developer contacted me to ask about the details of my past
business relationship with the guy. He was having the same problems with him
that I had.

How do I describe the guy in retrospect?

I think he drank a lot and shot his mouth off about being a CEO kickin' back
collecting the cheques too much. I did all the fucking work and he collected.

Even though we had been communicating about the issue in my case he took this
as a sign to move on. I'm actually pretty glad he did. I was ashamed to let
the client be stuck with him and all of his failures but sometimes that's the
price you have to pay to keep your sanity when things go bad.

In the time since this has happened I have done a lot of awesome technical
projects and he still has a broken webpage with nothing but errors on the
front page.

It is hard to find a new developer. I strongly advise you to get introspective
for awhile and figure out what you did to piss him off. After you've given him
a bit of time to cool down.

Meeting in person or on the phone certainly helps too. Emotional data is lost
in emails - best to avoid until you've patched things up.

~~~
purpleclock
just to clarify...I'm pretty sure I'm different from your ex-CEO.

My CTO is not angry at me, but he gets very annoyed if I ask him about the
product. We can talk about anything else and he acts normal/friendly. He told
me to back off on asking about the product, so I did. However, I'm concerned
and I don't know how to broach the topic of this product without setting him
off. I want to be considerate to his feelings and needs, but how do I do this
and also ensure work gets done in a timely manner? There is no real deadline
to our product launch, so that makes things more difficult.

I don't think our roles are uneven either...I did all the research and design
work for this project and raised our angel money.

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AznHisoka
A week is very short time.. give him a month or so. Maybe you might want to
consider taking a short mini-break as well. Even when I work on my own
projects, I feel like giving up midway. It's not a motivation thing.. it's
just that things are more interesting in the beginning, then when as you do
more work, it requires digging into dirty, tedious stuff.

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bartonfink
Have you had a conversation with him about it? The co-founder relationship's
not the same as an employee/er relationship. Maybe he feels like you're
bossing him around and he's unhappy about that. Maybe something is going on in
his private life that's distracting. Maybe he's just bored - after all,
finishing a project is paradoxically more difficult from starting one.

In the absence of information from him, do you think that it's worth finishing
the product? You could almost certainly find a freelancer to finish it, but
that's going to take cash that could be invested elsewhere.

I'd talk with him before contacting a freelancer, though. Unless you're
planning on butting him out completely, he could see this as you going behind
his back.

~~~
purpleclock
I have had a conversation. He thinks the product will 100 % be a failure and
therefore finishing it is a waste of time, but I think that conclusion is far
from certain and am actually very excited to launch it. Unfortunately, I have
failed to convince him otherwise.

~~~
chris_gogreen
How many hours of work does he estimate it will take?

~~~
purpleclock
He refuses to give me an estimate...this is worrying me as well.

~~~
chris_gogreen
Cut him off. You need someone who will do what they have committed to do, not
someone who lets their feelings and emotions control them.

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mjs00
Is there a middle ground where you can hire someone to help polish/finish, but
under his direction? Otherwise you will lose a lot of time onboarding someone
as they figure out his code/approach w/o his full complicity. Also perhaps
prune back things that aren't absolutely critical. The person you hire should
be able to help on maintenance as well, hopefully.

You might want to make completion of this required before starting project
two, as well review from both sides what will be different to help get project
two across the goal line to see if there really will be a project two
together.

------
chris_gogreen
After a week, it is definitely time for another conversation. A week with no
update is unacceptable, he is disrespecting you. It's rude and unprofessional
to leave you hanging with "...eventually, don't bother me..." When someone who
is supposed to be your business partner does this, it's a clue that: 1.) they
are a joker, 2.) they can't be trusted.

If something was going on in his personal like etc. he should be adult and
professional enough to inform the people he goes into business with.

Although, he could be working diligently, you could tell if your project is on
git, they should be making regular commits to dev branches if they are
working.

My advice, follow up with him on status, get a final answer on whether or not
he will finish it, and when. If he is adult and reasonable, you guys are good.
If he admits he doesn't want to do the work... Sever ties with them, they can
not be trusted, how do you know he will not lose interest in the second
product? And put you in the same position again.

I understand What AznHisoka is saying about losing interest, this is very
true, but when someone commits to doing something, they need to do it,
otherwise they are not worth your time. Fucking Jokers, there is an
interesting post on HN about this: [http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/if-you-
want-to-get-rich-sto...](http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/if-you-want-to-get-
rich-stop-being-a-fucking-joker?1)

Seriously, if someone working with/for me and they; first stop working on the
agreed priorities, then give me some wishy washy non existent time frame to
finish it, then tell me to not bother them. I would have my network
administrator cut their access off, ask them to step away from the
computer(assuming the company owns it), then escort them out of the building.

I would find a freelancer to finish.

Chris

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staunch
Procrastination is often your gut telling you something is wrong. It very well
may be that his unconscious mind knows it's not worth the effort to complete
the project.

Move on to product 2. If it happens again, maybe it's a different problem, but
it could easily be that he's right about product 1.

This is the most important reason why you need to work on things that you
_deeply_ believe in. Unfortunately you only find out late in the game how much
you _really_ care about a problem.

~~~
dholowiski
I agree- he has a deep understanding of the product and even if he can't
express it, he probably understands on some level why it _just wont work_. He
could be having personal issues or, and this may sound crazy but depending on
how far north of the equator you live he just might not be getting enough
sunshine (seasonal affective disorder).

------
rmalenko
You and CTO can rest for week or more and then have a heart-to-heart talk.
However, by my own experience you should look for a new CTO.

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joncooper
Do you have a corporate entity set up and the IP locked down?

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AnonAdvice
Suggest that he take try taking modafinil (200mg/day in the morning) and have
some on hand. There is a significant chance that this will produce dramatic
results.

------
davidhansen
_The product is probably about 90 % done already, the last 10 % should take no
more than two weeks_

Spoken like a true non-technical cofounder :)

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the the pareto principle applies
heavily to software development projects. It's quite likely that the "last
10%" will take much longer than you think.

That said, I've seen this happen quite often from inexperienced developers,
and it sounds like you have one on your hands. It's easy for passion and ego
to carry a project from a blank slate to a state of mostly-functioning.
Hackers usually get a great rush from this stage of the project. It's their
code, their architecture, their baby. Sure it's got some rough edges, but the
important stuff is done. Their genius has been imbued into it, now comes the
drudgery of polishing the edges - oh wait, this sucks. The process of turning
something that works into something that's usable or salable is boring. What a
letdown. They just solved this intractable problem in O(log n) time, and now
you want them to make the interface's corners rounded or add some copy? Bah.
They'd rather stare at the wall.

This is a total shot in the dark here, but I've seen it often enough that I'm
fairly sure it's the mentality you're dealing with. And I can't say there's an
easy solution. It's nearly impossible to motivate hackers who think creating
software is all fun, all the time. You either chose a bad cofounder, or just a
young one who needs some exposure to real software development projects.
either way, I'd recommend a confrontation, followed up by hiring out if things
don't change.

~~~
jayzalowitz
I have to agree with this.... Depending on how long he's been at it, it may be
one of those "I need a second" my best suggestion is to get a deadline and
show you are working your ass off as well. Basically, you need to do
everything else you can and be there to get him pizza...

Consider bringing in a 3rd that you can give ~5% equity who can focus on
problems he needs help with... ask for his help in this conversation...

