5 ms·

My tech cofounder drops out. I just receive a 10K investment. What do I do?

2 points by IsraCV 11y ago

genystartup 11y ago
Find another co-founder? what is his/her role in the project?
- IsraCV 11y ago
  Is the developer, I'm the business person. I have just hire someone to finish our MVP.
- fsniper 11y ago
  Of course this is the obvious answer, but, the op already knows that. They are asking because, they have some conundrum that they can't put heir finger on. We need more information. Why losing a co-founder is a problem? Only they have the technical ability? Only they have the insight to the sector? The fund depends on their name? The fund depends on the partnership? co-founder is irreplaceable in some way? Op has time limits? Op lacks the technical/social abilities to replace partner?
  - IsraCV 11y ago
    I don't have the technical abilities, that's the only thing. Definitely the co-founder is replaceable. I have just hire someone to continue the work and see how things go before asking to be a co-founder and don't burn money on salaries in this very early stage. What would be your recommendation for me?
    - fsniper 11y ago
      It's the talent finding question, we are all having and fighting right now. If you watch HN carefully you would see that we have at least 4 - 5 talent finding guidelines or startups popping up daily. HN is a good place for looking for talent, but you need to give more information about what you want to build. Also you need to create interest in people because it's really an early stage venture with low funding. Considering money is the first incentive you need luck, or you need to show that you have the chance to become a unicorn. Also you may try angel.co. So good luck.
      - IsraCV 11y ago
        Thank you for your comment :)
dylanhassinger 11y ago
http://odesk.com http://odesk.com
- IsraCV 11y ago
  Thank you for the link! ;)
brudgers 11y ago
Explain the situation to your investors, offer to return the money, build another company while staying in touch with your investors. Yes, it kind of sucks. $10k is not enough money to waste goodwill on or potentially voiding your reputation. Good luck.
- IsraCV 11y ago
  I'm trying to avoid this. But lets see what happen. Thank you for your comment :)
  - brudgers 11y ago
    I know you're trying to avoid doing the slam dunk obvious right thing. There's almost zero upside to what you want to do. Even if you're cofounder hadn't left the odds are that your startup would fail. That's the nature of startups. The $10k won't change that. Your cofounder leaving makes it even more likely your startup will fail. And that means that should the startup fail, your startup will have failed and you will have done the wrong thing. On the other hand, if you disclose the status to the investor, the worst thing that can happen is that you walk away from a troublesome project with a potential future investor who sees you as a person of integrity. The best thing that can happen is exactly the same as the best thing that can happen if you don't disclose. And the odds of that best thing happening are improved because you don't have to waste energy on a web of deceit and because you have an ally who will talk well of you. A person is only as good as their word.
    - ryanalam 11y ago
      "Even if you're cofounder hadn't left the odds are that your startup would fail." I think that's a shitty outlook. Of course your startup has odds of failing, but if you quit on your idea because of this hiccup, your chance of failure is 100%. These things happen. Be 100% up front with your investor, tell him you need some time to find a new co-founder, and then go find one. If the investor can't stomach this challenge and wants his money back, all good - his money wasn't worth the hassle of having an investor with a low risk tolerance. But perhaps he's someone who either believes in you or your idea, and would want you to persevere and get this thing off the ground, not jump ship at the first sign of difficulty. Your other options are to hire some freelancers/developers to help you take your early stage prototype to a public-facing finish line. Or learn to code yourself, that's always an option ;)
ryanalam 11y ago
cool idea! DMing you ;)
- IsraCV 11y ago
  Hi! @ryanalam, I read your tweet but you still didn't DMing me.

2 points by IsraCV 11y ago

genystartup 11y ago

Find another co-founder? what is his/her role in the project?

IsraCV 11y ago
Is the developer, I'm the business person. I have just hire someone to finish our MVP.
fsniper 11y ago
Of course this is the obvious answer, but, the op already knows that. They are asking because, they have some conundrum that they can't put heir finger on. We need more information. Why losing a co-founder is a problem? Only they have the technical ability? Only they have the insight to the sector? The fund depends on their name? The fund depends on the partnership? co-founder is irreplaceable in some way? Op has time limits? Op lacks the technical/social abilities to replace partner?
- IsraCV 11y ago
  I don't have the technical abilities, that's the only thing. Definitely the co-founder is replaceable. I have just hire someone to continue the work and see how things go before asking to be a co-founder and don't burn money on salaries in this very early stage. What would be your recommendation for me?
  - fsniper 11y ago
    It's the talent finding question, we are all having and fighting right now. If you watch HN carefully you would see that we have at least 4 - 5 talent finding guidelines or startups popping up daily. HN is a good place for looking for talent, but you need to give more information about what you want to build. Also you need to create interest in people because it's really an early stage venture with low funding. Considering money is the first incentive you need luck, or you need to show that you have the chance to become a unicorn. Also you may try angel.co. So good luck.
    - IsraCV 11y ago
      Thank you for your comment :)

dylanhassinger 11y ago

http://odesk.com http://odesk.com

IsraCV 11y ago
Thank you for the link! ;)

brudgers 11y ago

Explain the situation to your investors, offer to return the money, build another company while staying in touch with your investors. Yes, it kind of sucks. $10k is not enough money to waste goodwill on or potentially voiding your reputation. Good luck.

IsraCV 11y ago
I'm trying to avoid this. But lets see what happen. Thank you for your comment :)
- brudgers 11y ago
  I know you're trying to avoid doing the slam dunk obvious right thing. There's almost zero upside to what you want to do. Even if you're cofounder hadn't left the odds are that your startup would fail. That's the nature of startups. The $10k won't change that. Your cofounder leaving makes it even more likely your startup will fail. And that means that should the startup fail, your startup will have failed and you will have done the wrong thing. On the other hand, if you disclose the status to the investor, the worst thing that can happen is that you walk away from a troublesome project with a potential future investor who sees you as a person of integrity. The best thing that can happen is exactly the same as the best thing that can happen if you don't disclose. And the odds of that best thing happening are improved because you don't have to waste energy on a web of deceit and because you have an ally who will talk well of you. A person is only as good as their word.
  - ryanalam 11y ago
    "Even if you're cofounder hadn't left the odds are that your startup would fail." I think that's a shitty outlook. Of course your startup has odds of failing, but if you quit on your idea because of this hiccup, your chance of failure is 100%. These things happen. Be 100% up front with your investor, tell him you need some time to find a new co-founder, and then go find one. If the investor can't stomach this challenge and wants his money back, all good - his money wasn't worth the hassle of having an investor with a low risk tolerance. But perhaps he's someone who either believes in you or your idea, and would want you to persevere and get this thing off the ground, not jump ship at the first sign of difficulty. Your other options are to hire some freelancers/developers to help you take your early stage prototype to a public-facing finish line. Or learn to code yourself, that's always an option ;)

ryanalam 11y ago

cool idea! DMing you ;)

IsraCV 11y ago
Hi! @ryanalam, I read your tweet but you still didn't DMing me.