Ask HN: What should I do if one of my startup founders does not work enough?

5 points by lbolla 13 years ago | 8 comments

I need a suggestion from your collective wisdom. Few months ago I founded a startup with 4 other people. We all come from different professional background, but we have the same age and, within each professional background, we used to have similar roles. We still all have daily jobs, and work for the startup on a part-time basis. We are all equally shareholders of the company.

My problem is that one of the founders, whose talent is out of question, is not dedicating enough time to the startup, he is not performing his tasks as required, and, generally, he is not show the commitment that the other directors do. This is a problem, because the startup is now starting to generate money and his attitude is creating problems within the other team members, that feel he is getting the same money as them without working.

He is a shareholder as the others, so he can't be "fired".

What do you think the other directors should do? Should we kick him out or not? Should we relegate him to the role of pure "shareholder" with no salary?

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

xr4tiii 13 years ago |

You should have planned for something like this to happen from the very start. you should always have a "divorce" agreement in place in case someone isn't pulling their weight, stops working on the project, medical leave, etc. I know this from learning the hard way. You should also aways have a vesting period in your contract. 2-4 years should be given to startup before they get 100% of their shares. Not where you stand now nor am I a lawyer but you might want to get that agreement in place. Maybe tell him that you need to slightly redo corp paperwork to bring in other people/investors in the future. Good luck.

xr4tiii 13 years ago | |

Also one last thought. Always have in writing what happens when someone is leaving or is getting kicked out. could be a buyout. Or a percent of buyout. bottom line is I think you should get with your other founders and formulate a plan and then get a lawyer to draft up new company bylines ASAP.

vladmk 13 years ago |

Forget the "compliment sandwich" crap. I like to do a compliment half sandwich. First part "The team is worreid about you, you know you're awesome, that's why your still on this team you asshole", Second part ",but the hours you put in are low, what do you think?". I try to let people give me their own solutions to problems and hold them accountable. Chances are if someones screwing up I think they know it already, we all just need a bit of prodding every now and then. Honesty is best. Also if you guys are doing this start up part time then you may still have time to dump it and start a new one.

lsiebert 13 years ago |

I'd talk to your fellow founders, then talk to him with them and express your concerns. Do the whole compliment sandwich thing (IE "You're clearly a genius, but we've been disappointed by your work output. We value your contributions and we wanted to get your input because we feel the current situation isn't satisfactory, and we want this company to succeed") Treat him as part of the solution, and at worst you'll be where you are right now. At best he'll take it as a friendly wakeup call.

chicurela 13 years ago |

Have you consider having "vesting schedules" based on milestones? This way nobody owns anything until they prove their work and commitment to the project.

Vesting schedule was commonly used with employees, but these days more and more Start Ups use it with their founders, advisors, etc... Good luck!

mapster 13 years ago |

Setting goals together and have status updates. then you can have a record on what is achieved / not-achieved, realistic goals, need to work more to meet goals, etc. I would start there, then see how that improves things, or if you need to agree on more stringent performance metrics and consequences.

meerita 13 years ago |

Being part of a business is a serious thing. You cannot play with others life, investment and risk people losing jobs because someone is slacking. You need to gather with your partners and talk him/her seriously.

jsaxton86 13 years ago |

This link might be helpful: http://blog.eladgil.com/2013/01/how-to-fire-co-founder.html