Co-founder problem. Pls vote

i spent 7 years fighting that exact problem. it just about killed me. walk away. it's not worth it.

You joined with this cofounder? I think you may have a problem too - like lack of self awareness :)

If you only have two options... you should chose Number 2.

I would go to the him and try to get feedback..."I see half our team has left. What can we do to try to learn from this situation? " > if he says "not pick bad people" = walk away.

His answer will help you decide.

Don't even consider #1. It's NOT going to be worth it for sure.

You're at the point where there's only one person out of 5 other original people you want to work with left?

Even if you got the other person out, do you think you could execute with just that one other person?

"Idea/direction wise it's going quite well" - Is it though?

Quit

One of you is going to have to go. Have a serious discussion with him about the situation and let him know that either he goes or you go. If you think the business has value with you running it then make him an offer to accelerate his vesting as a sweetener to leave. If he is too stupid to take the offer then just walk. He will ruin the company anyway so it is better to cut your losses now.

If it's as bad as you say, then leave and take the best people with you to go do this the right way.

If the people won't go with you, think carefully about whether it's really as bad as you say.

Quit immediately.

I am not so sure idea/direction goes well if your cofounder changes company direction all the time.

If you're in beta and this person is the CTO pushing him out will get you with a product you will have trouble to develop further without a lot of time and effort.

If he's the business guy and also has most shares, then prepare for a capital increase following a capital decrease that will dilute your share to almost nothing.

I'd suggest you have a long, detailed, open and honest conversation with this person about the future of your company and your working relationship. Part of being a responsible co-founder is dealing with problems head on, and finding a way to work through them.

It strikes me that if you can't see a third option: Working with this co-founder to improve your collective situation, then the company has already failed and you may as well move on.

"fyi I brought in all the team members except this person." - how is this possible? so you just allowed someone else you hired to bring in a co-founder?

Have you talked to this person in order to understand his "serious personality problems" or just basing these on what you hear or observe? You said you brought all the team members, so I assume all of you think alike, which seems obviously different from this person, so the difference in perspective is magnified that much more. I say have an honest discussion. If you have already discussed, share the gist of it with HN so that people can assess things in a fair way to provide useful solution. You also haven't told us how and why he has the most equity. Who knows, he might be an eccentric that not many can understand!

Something here doesn't add up, and in general, this doesn't pass my smell test.

How does this part work? "This person has the most equity in the company." "Our company is seed funded and have beta launched. Idea/direction wise it's going quite well."

It sounds, based on what you have said, that the company is succeeding and this person is driving that success.

Is it possible that the equity arrangement isn't adequate to retain people through challenges?

Do you have specific examples, something obvious, where this person is damaging the company?

Is it possible that other people are overly sensitive, or perhaps their egos are creating the conflict?

It sounds like you are gathering support to validate your decision to leave. If you want to leave, go ahead, but own that decision and don't blame someone else for pushing you out.

Alternatively, push back, create the environment you desire.

I say choose Option 3. Understand him

I know this come way out of left field but I believe in understanding why people are the way they are over you're dead to me!

The quick and dirty way to understand him is to read his natal chart.

Go to http://astro.cafeastrology.com and read up.

You'll find some fascinating insights and you'll be able to pinpoint his problem with working with others.

For example he might have his Saturn in Leo which would mean: Weaknesses: abuse of power, little feeling in the workplace.

So once you find out all this info you can have your team read his birth chart and you'll know what to expect.

Astrology might seem like it's bullshit but it's not, I've heavily tested it and it's super real. Check out https://cafeastrology.com/articles/signcompatiblitygrid.html which will show you the basics of how we get along with folks we aren't compatible with. This compatibility runs through friends, family, loved ones and lovers.

With understanding of him you'll be able to ignore his wild mood swings and why he looks down on people and is so insecure.

The key to reading his birth chart effectively is using your own experience of people in your life who are Sagittariuses for example.

Some interesting parts of his birth chart you'll want to look at include:

* His Sun Sign: This is what we all know about astrology but is not that helpful without all the underlying detail

* His Moon Sign: Your moon sign controls your emotions. Most likely his Moon and Sun sign are battling each other and his moon sign is more dominate than his Sun causing some of the instability you've mentioned.

* His Mercury is how he communicates. If he has a fire sign here or it's in a strong sign like Leo or Scorpio that would explain why he's a jerk

* His Rising Sign: This is how the outside world views him I've found people whose rising signs are in Aquarius (Contrarians) put people off.

Balance

Astrology is very unique because you can use their birth chart to find out if they're in or out of balance.

For example let's say you meet a Scorpio and they're being super cautious, that's because they're out of balance and behaving like their opposite sign which is Taurus (Known for being very practical and patient). Naturally Scorpios are risking and extreme). You can use the compatibility grid to find out his opposites and see if he's just being himself or out of balance.

Finally have everyone at work read their own astrology and compare it with his, you'll learn a lot about yourselves and you might find that clashes are happening because of similarities not incompatibilities.

P.S. Have you asked about issue with ladies or his spouse? That could really be the issue.

I've been in this exact situation before. Go for Option 2; it is the best option for your physical, mental, and financial health.

> Our company is seed funded and have beta launched. Idea/direction wise it's going quite well.

The truth is-- successful, growing companies are very often lead by total jerks. Those personalities drive performance.

If you can still deal with him-- profile your new hires for ability to manage ambiguity, thick skin, and superior emotional intelligence.