Ask HN: How to give up on my startup

6 points by taw1516 3 years ago | 6 comments

About my situation: I am an ex-FAANG software engineer manager. I recently co-founded a startup as a CTO with 2 other friends. We raised a really big seed round from reputable VCs. However, 6 months into this journey, I realize I am not cut out for it. This is 100% on me and not a reflection of my team/product/vision

1. I have been in the managerial role for too long that my IC output is subpar

2. I made some bad technical/hiring decisions that led to tech debt

3. I cant keep up with the pace and stress.

This is not imposter syndrome. I genuinely think I am not measuring up and holding my friends back.

I think if I can quit to take a year off to recharge and hone my skill, I feel confident that I can go at it again either 1) bootstrap 2) raise a smaller round at a more reasonable valuation. But obviously this will raise all kinds of negative signals if I ever try to raise funding or building a team.

I don't really know what help or advice I am asking for here. So any input would be appreciated. Did anyone go through a similar path?

mattbgates 3 years ago |

It does happen and if you aren't feeling it, it's just not for you.

I had done a similar thing but I'd put up most of the money, at least for the equipment, but upon seeing the work ethic of my other business partners, I am no longer interested in even being partners anymore. It's more of a "put your money where your mouth is" situation as it was supposed to be a division of everyone working together, but ended up that I essentially provided everything for everyone, and that was not the way I wanted it to go at all.

For me personally, however, I've got to just cut my losses and sell off whatever equipment I bought. There was no legal contracts or anything in place.

Did you agree to a certain 3-way profit if any? If so, then just have them buy you out. Depending on the time and work you've already put into the company, as well as the ideas, probably just name your price, draw up the legal contracts, so that you are ultimately settling on a buyout price.

codegeek 3 years ago |

Few things:

1. Talk to your co founders if not already about this and see what they have to say

2. Take a break for couple of weeks before deciding anything.

"raise a smaller round at a more reasonable valuation"

This makes me think that you guys raised too much (not that uncommon in 2021-early 2022) and the pressure to grow is lot more than you thought. Regardless, even if you raise at more "reasonable" valuations, the pace and stress expected from a VC backed company is always high. Very high.

If you truly cannot keep up with the pace and stress in general (not just this startup), you perhaps need to revisit the idea of building a company especially the VC way. May be start bootstrapped first ? Just a thought.

dyeje 3 years ago |

You say you’re not cut out for it, but that you want to try again in a year. To me that signals that you’re just overwhelmed in the moment. Startups are hard, that isn’t going to change in a year. There’s always going to be technical debt and you’re never going to have a perfect hiring record.

I think you should take a moment to breathe, talk to your cofounders about your feelings, and try to work through this. It’s hard, but you can do it.

solarmist 3 years ago |

As others have said, talk to your co-founders about this.

What you say can be true, but they might want you to stick around anyway. And so they might come up with ideas/solutions to these problems.

The other thing to remember is that mistakes and wrong steps are unavoidable. And they increase in size and frequency the less there's a common process or roadmap for what you're trying to do.

By definition, startups are at the extreme on this scale.

fdgsdfogijq 3 years ago |

You should take a two week vacation before making any decision like this. Also I would say nothing about your thoughts on this to your cofounders. Just take a break, come back and get ready to execute. If you feel the same in three more months, then think about walking. Probably its just hard. Raising a big seed round isnt easy, stick with what you already have.

solarmist 3 years ago | |

Completely disagree with not saying anything.

To succeed, you need a deep and trusting relationship with your cofounders. If you can't bring up and discuss doubts/fears/irritations/any other issues, you are already on the path to failure.

As an employee it can be the right call not to say anything, but not as a founder.