I was once offered the job like this CTO, taking over from a less experienced co-founder, with his consent, while he remains in place. I didn't take the job for

I was once offered the job like this CTO, taking over from a less experienced co-founder, with his consent, while he remains in place. I didn't take the job for other reasons, but I would never have done what this guy is doing to you. And if I had, the CEO would probably fire me. If you were really that bad, your co-founder CEO should have parted ways with you already. But of course you're not - just the fact that you are aware of your limitations and learning as you go, is evidence of that. I've seen bad technical co-founders, and they are NOT aware of their limitations usually, or don't care about it. And BTW for the quick-n-dirty prototype part of a start-up's life cycle, having crap code is perfectly fine IMHO - as long as you're aware of it and it's a conscious decision. But if that really is the case (and I doubt it) - and it's for the greater good of the company that you will be fired - you should be very well compensated for your time and effort, as other have mentioned. I've actually seen another situation at a start-up where this was in fact the case, and the company was better off firing a co-founder. It was painful but he was compensated and got to keep most of his shares, so it was probably for his interest as well (though I'm not sure he realized it at the time).