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First, if you've had good outcomes on your businesses with this person, are you really sure that you want to pull out the fire hammer? The problem with the fire

by hluska 8y ago

First, if you've had good outcomes on your businesses with this person, are you really sure that you want to pull out the fire hammer? The problem with the fire hammer is that you're almost certainly going to kill off the relationship and run a serious risk of poisoning a large part of your shared network. For example, you raised $120k, which makes me think you both have a relationship with the investor(s) involved. What could that fallout really look like? You've had good outcomes on your businesses, which tells me that the two of you can work very well together. Second, really think about the kinds of phrases that you use in this. Consider phrases like this: - He's not being able to catch up. - I can't waste more time. - Should I wait until December? - He's very good for areas that the company doesn't need now. Are you sure that the problem isn't you? First, you started a company with someone knowing it was outside of his comfort zone and that his skills would be most valuable in two years. Are you sure you want to fire someone because you made a poor choice? Honestly, you sound like you're lacking empathy. Part of founding a company with someone is having a level of empathy towards that person. Without empathy towards a co-founder, there's no way that you'll be able to identify with customers or employees enough to build something special. As well, do you mostly communicate in writing? If so, is it possible that he just doesn't understand what you're saying? Again, I'm not trying to offend you, but your writing is hard to follow. Third, this should go without saying, but don't fire anyone in December. That's just a colossal dick move.

jondoefounder 8y ago
Thanks Hluska, I'm aware I lack of empathy, it's a flaw I have that I've been working on. We communicate over the phone or in-person meetings, I understand that my english is not flawless, so what you mentioned it's not an issue. If it's my fault? Off course it is, but that doesn't mean that once I realize I made a mistake I can't do something to change that. On the other hand, he was aware when we started to work on this that many things were going to be out of our comfort zone and that we need to learn every day, that's what you do in a startup. The problem starts when you just don't want to do something because you don't like it and you try to find a magical solution to all of your problems. About the investors, yes they invested on us based on our track record, I'm sure they'll understand the problem we're going trough now, they are smart people. We also talked about this issue before with them. I have to rephrase, the goal it's not to fire him, but to change the equity structure and his role on the company. If at the end he prefers to leave, that's not ideal, but it'll be ok. Thanks for the feedback! I'll put my effort on communicating everything with emphaty, I don't want to ruin the relationship with my co-founder because I know he's a good person and that he will be very useful for the company in a near future.

by hluska 8y ago

jondoefounder 8y ago

Thanks Hluska, I'm aware I lack of empathy, it's a flaw I have that I've been working on. We communicate over the phone or in-person meetings, I understand that my english is not flawless, so what you mentioned it's not an issue. If it's my fault? Off course it is, but that doesn't mean that once I realize I made a mistake I can't do something to change that. On the other hand, he was aware when we started to work on this that many things were going to be out of our comfort zone and that we need to learn every day, that's what you do in a startup. The problem starts when you just don't want to do something because you don't like it and you try to find a magical solution to all of your problems. About the investors, yes they invested on us based on our track record, I'm sure they'll understand the problem we're going trough now, they are smart people. We also talked about this issue before with them. I have to rephrase, the goal it's not to fire him, but to change the equity structure and his role on the company. If at the end he prefers to leave, that's not ideal, but it'll be ok. Thanks for the feedback! I'll put my effort on communicating everything with emphaty, I don't want to ruin the relationship with my co-founder because I know he's a good person and that he will be very useful for the company in a near future.