3 ms·

Cut bait now. This problem will only get worse for you.

by earle 16y ago

petervandijck 16y ago
Agree. It's going to hurt a lot to cut him out now, but he will most likely not get better. As to how to go about it: it's like breaking up. Have a short conversation and be very, very, very clear ("I do not want to continue this business with you"), don't go into the reasons to much (don't say "you suck", say "it's not working out"), and then shut up. Include a buy-out offer ("For X$, I can buy you out, or else we'll have to shut shop."). Then let it sink in, set a time to meet the next day. The other alternative is to talk to him about your concerns and see if you can work it out. Perhaps more mature, but somehow I don't feel this is going to work out, since you are questioning the quality of what he does, which is almost impossible to change (versus something specific that he does wrong, which would be changeable.)
dschobel 16y ago
Yes, but cut bait on the cofounder or on the company? That's the million (okay, few thousand) dollar question.
mbenjaminsmith 16y ago
I agree. Sounds like the person isn't committed. There are many reasons for that but the bottom line is they won't get you anywhere. The upside is if they're not fully into it, they're more likely to let go. I say be direct and ask that person to walk away. If you have a product and some sales you have potential. You can sell that potential to another partner (now especially that you know what to look for). If that person is unwilling to let go, consider pulling on a third person at an equal split. I'm sure some people would disagree with that but 1) if that person won't let go, you're probably running out of options or 2) the competition might turn your current partner 'on'. If you have a product that does sell, I would do everything I could to make it grow. You've overcome a lot of obstacles to get to that point. If you can make it grow with a third, you'll have more options down the road (like buying the second partner out).
thetrumanshow 16y ago
No. This is a bad move unless you know these for a fact: * Your expectations aren't too high * The problem is with the salesman, not the product. * There are other people who can sell this better * You can afford to hire someone else to do this, or you are willing to give up a % of YOUR remaining stake to take a chance on someone else. I would just level with your friend and tell them you'd like to give someone else a shot at sales. Let your friend spend his time researching new market directions for the company and making contacts.
all_elements 16y ago
This is definitely an option that should be considered. I had a similar situation: I was moonlighting on a very promising startup for 2 years. My partners were supposed to do the fundraising, biz/development, or pitch in money. But it didn't happen at a level that I consider competitive. In the end things started to get worse: they don't understand the tech components very well but still had strong opinions. And that starts to become a -ve contribution. So I split from them and I am working on a few things on my own. Looking back in hindsight I feel vindicated. I'd recommend that you cover all the conversation topics that others have suggested above. If it does not work out then cut your losses and move on. It may seem like a big deal after having invested time and emotions with this person but you should do what is right for you. Asides: I feel that if an idea involves tech development then techies should work on it by themselves for a few months and then bring in the biz/dev guys. That way you know exactly what you are looking for and bring in the right guys that suit your business (connections, industry knowledge, etc.). Moreover you get to evaluate the biz/dev guys more closely since you can be with them when then demo the prototype. The only caveat here is that you need to have some prior startup experience so you can sort out the high level business aspects (users, customers, reveune models, etc.) on your own before you specialize your code/prototype too deeply.

Cut bait now. This problem will only get worse for you.

by earle 16y ago

Cut bait now. This problem will only get worse for you.

Agree. It's going to hurt a lot to cut him out now, but he will most likely not get better. As to how to go about it: it's like breaking up. Have a short conversation and be very, very, very clear ("I do not want to continue this business with you"), don't go into the reasons to much (don't say "you suck", say "it's not working out"), and then shut up. Include a buy-out offer ("For X$, I can buy you out, or else we'll have to shut shop."). Then let it sink in, set a time to meet the next day. The other alternative is to talk to him about your concerns and see if you can work it out. Perhaps more mature, but somehow I don't feel this is going to work out, since you are questioning the quality of what he does, which is almost impossible to change (versus something specific that he does wrong, which would be changeable.)

dschobel 16y ago

Yes, but cut bait on the cofounder or on the company? That's the million (okay, few thousand) dollar question.

mbenjaminsmith 16y ago

I agree. Sounds like the person isn't committed. There are many reasons for that but the bottom line is they won't get you anywhere. The upside is if they're not fully into it, they're more likely to let go. I say be direct and ask that person to walk away. If you have a product and some sales you have potential. You can sell that potential to another partner (now especially that you know what to look for). If that person is unwilling to let go, consider pulling on a third person at an equal split. I'm sure some people would disagree with that but 1) if that person won't let go, you're probably running out of options or 2) the competition might turn your current partner 'on'. If you have a product that does sell, I would do everything I could to make it grow. You've overcome a lot of obstacles to get to that point. If you can make it grow with a third, you'll have more options down the road (like buying the second partner out).

thetrumanshow 16y ago

No. This is a bad move unless you know these for a fact: * Your expectations aren't too high * The problem is with the salesman, not the product. * There are other people who can sell this better * You can afford to hire someone else to do this, or you are willing to give up a % of YOUR remaining stake to take a chance on someone else. I would just level with your friend and tell them you'd like to give someone else a shot at sales. Let your friend spend his time researching new market directions for the company and making contacts.

all_elements 16y ago

This is definitely an option that should be considered. I had a similar situation: I was moonlighting on a very promising startup for 2 years. My partners were supposed to do the fundraising, biz/development, or pitch in money. But it didn't happen at a level that I consider competitive. In the end things started to get worse: they don't understand the tech components very well but still had strong opinions. And that starts to become a -ve contribution. So I split from them and I am working on a few things on my own. Looking back in hindsight I feel vindicated. I'd recommend that you cover all the conversation topics that others have suggested above. If it does not work out then cut your losses and move on. It may seem like a big deal after having invested time and emotions with this person but you should do what is right for you. Asides: I feel that if an idea involves tech development then techies should work on it by themselves for a few months and then bring in the biz/dev guys. That way you know exactly what you are looking for and bring in the right guys that suit your business (connections, industry knowledge, etc.). Moreover you get to evaluate the biz/dev guys more closely since you can be with them when then demo the prototype. The only caveat here is that you need to have some prior startup experience so you can sort out the high level business aspects (users, customers, reveune models, etc.) on your own before you specialize your code/prototype too deeply.