"Bleh. I'm not trying to be stingy with equity or anything by not wanting him on if he can't contribute, but the reason for me thinking of now changing my mind

"Bleh. I'm not trying to be stingy with equity or anything by not wanting him on if he can't contribute, but the reason for me thinking of now changing my mind is the following:" Yeah I meant what pepeto said for sure. Use equity to equally vest in a 3rd member who is a dedicated programmer slash eventual CTO. Once he proves his weight and you guys reach the next round of funding you can restructure everything based on the partnership agreement. p.s. I know your pain. I've lost two cofounders. Once who didn't believe in himself or his abilities, another who didn't share the vision and was more interested in his ex. ;) it's a tough road.