> So how about a third option: They are just trying to cut out dead weight from the company. "They?" -> is the non-founder _employee_, with much less stake in

> So how about a third option: They are just trying to cut out dead weight from the company. "They?" -> is the non-founder _employee_, with much less stake in company's future than the said founder. "Dead weight?" -> is the founder who put his life savings in the venture, and is obviously desirable till the next round of funding. A more reasonable "don't-conflict-ignorance-with-malice" would be that CTO has technical acumen but not business, and is judging the OP harshly on the technical merit.