Ask HN: My Cofounder has decided to pursue another venture

by god_bless_texas on 4/29/2014, 1:44 AM with 11 comments

I'm presenting to angel investors in 2 weeks and my cofounder decided to head across the street to a venture that just got funded. He's got kids, and isn't exactly the visionary type, and so the security of VC being involved was enough to soothe his anxiety. I adored working with him and thought we were going to conquer the world together, but it seems that his short term financial concerns were deeper than I thought.

We're close enough on our prototype that I think I can finish it on my own, but what the heck do I tell these angels? They are expecting two guys.

As hurt as I am that he totally ditched me in my moment of need, I have absolutely no hard feelings towards him. I want him to be successful.

I keep reading Paul Graham's note about what he looks for and I have read about what others are looking for. It's always the founding team. I'm not McGyver or Rambo, and don't present myself that way. I am terrified that if I reschedule these meetings that 1) they won't have another one or 2) they'll see it as a major red flag and lose interest in the deal.

Please comrades, help me think about how to handle this.

  • by hashtag on 4/29/2014, 4:49 AM

    I am not an investor nor a lawyer but if I was on the other end, I'd want open honesty regardless. I would explain the situation to them exactly as you did here. I would include the comment about how he was invaluable to getting the MVP done as you mentioned in the comment but you have confidence in doing this moving forward solo and why.

    Discuss in advanced with your former cofounder about what he expects shares, if any, for his contribution this far so you have something to let the angels know. In reality if you guys did things right and was on a proper vesting schedule he wouldn't vest anything unless it was past the one year cliff period. Either way, know your numbers cold and a solid plan of action from here on out.

    Any hard data you can get from now till the meeting is much better than what you project i.e. sign ups of interest, paying customers, launch trajectory, etc..

    Best of luck

  • by jesusmichael on 4/29/2014, 2:13 AM

    A couple of things.

    You should have seen this coming... Nothing is ever a surprise.

    Welcome to owning your own business! If you don't have your shit together, its better to push the meeting off then to toss it at the wall and hope it sticks.

    If you have a compelling business, the way you handle this will only make the VC's like you more (unless you mess it up). Call them, tell the what happened and also tell them, you'll handle it... and want to reschedule for a date when you'll be on point. If they don't respect you communicating with them. You don't want their cash anyway. They know people flake... and they'll be more happy that the guy took off before they gave you some money.

    Don't BS money guys... They'll find out and then your done.

    EDIT: Does the guy that walked own any of the company? If so be prepared to discuss how you get him out of it.

  • by johng on 4/29/2014, 1:49 AM

    How much of the product depends on your partner? If his area of expertise is something that will be hard to replace you may have issues. If you did the majority of the work then it may not be an issue.

  • by on 4/29/2014, 8:07 AM

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  • by johng on 4/29/2014, 1:50 AM

    Also, would you mind sharing with us what you are pitching? Maybe someone here would be interested.

  • by Stevegazzy on 4/29/2014, 1:52 AM

    I could come by and be your co founder if that would Help. Just for The meeting though.

    Steve.