Co-Founder Lost Motivation and Quit - What Now?

1 points by jhacks 13 years ago | 3 comments

So, a year ago I went to my friend with an idea for a live video startup and asked if he wanted to join. I would deal with design and frontend development. He would deal with backend development. We both have full time jobs and live over an hour from one another. So we worked remotely and as much as we could.

Recently, the design has finally come together and I'm getting close to finalizing the frontend code. I was hoping that soon we'd hook backend / frontend and launch. However, he has just quit.

He has seemed busy and I suppose I wasn't entirely surprised when he told me that he wasn't spending as much time as he would have liked or as the startup deserved. He said he'd be able to work on things for the next few weeks and help to transition things to me. He felt bad and didn't want any compensation for his work.

While I couldn't ask for him to leave in a better way, I'd be lying if I didn't say I wish he would stick around.

At the same time, the idea and startup passion was always mine. I don't think he has the startup passion (perhaps not even from the start). He just enjoyed creating something. So, I can't force him to work if he feels he doesn't have the time. Since even after launch, things won't get easier.

What do I do from here?

1. Take his code and try to finish what was started and launch by myself?

2. Find another co-founder?

3. Hire developer(s)?

4. Try to talk things out with co-founder and get him to continue?

Any other options?

Anyway, I'm sorry for so much writing. I just needed to get it out there. I truly believe in the startup and refuse to give up, but would love to get some advice from others. Thanks!

rattray 13 years ago |

First, don't stress. This is normal. I've had a number of projects, including my current one, that has had early people come and go. A startup is a monumental commitment and it's a good thing your partner realized their heart wasn't in it before things got more serious (ie; product launch).

As for where to go from here, it depends a lot on the state of the current project IMO. If it's possible to get something out the door with the backend as it is now, I'd say do that. Call it an MVP, and see how it goes. If it turns out you're on to something, you can start looking for others to join you and use your traction as an argument. If it just absolutely doesn't work as-is, and you really believe in this, you should probably do what it takes to get an MVP out the door. That might be picking up the backend where he left it yourself, or hiring some freelance help if that's something you're more comfortable with -- be careful if you're new to this.

Best of luck!

jhacks 13 years ago | |

Thanks for the reply. My gut was telling me to do the same. It can't be launched as-is, but I'd say the backend is 80% there. However, the last 20% is quite important. But I think it should be something I could put together. The issue isn't so much what's not done but the fact that I don't know Ruby, Rails, or backend development at all really. Then there is the linking of the backend and frontend with AJAX. Which although I have yet to do it... I've become familiarish with it. And then pulling things from local environment to the server. Again, never done it... but I'm sure I can learn.

It's going to be hard, but I feel going solo for now might just be the more realistic option. I don't want the headache of hiring developer(s)... nor do I think it'd be safe to risk finding a strange co-founder at this stage.

Well, going to be a tough couple of months ahead of me! That's for sure.

rattray 13 years ago | | |

A tough and probably incredibly worthwhile and rewarding few months! Stick with it, there isn't anything that some creative googling and enough console.log()'s can't get you through. By the way, if you're new to development, you might check out a guide I recently wrote on learning to code/hack[1], though it sounds like you're already well on your way.

[1] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZYvik8gFPK_HTYEoqJNwHw_2...