Ask news.yc: How do I break up with my co-founder?

b) Don't let it! Move on, worst thing you could do is drag this on and not be up front and clear cut about it, because then it will drag the life out of the project and you.

c) Talk to your lawyer! IANAL, but -- Have you signed anything? If it's pre-incorporation, and you haven't agreed to anything, it's kind of a non-issue. As for ConnectU, I bet the case gets thrown out anyways, they don't have a very strong case and the judge is already annoyed with them.

d) You answered it yourself, plus you've learned a valuable lesson about getting the legalities out of the way before engaging in any part of the business. A good part of incorporating is so that you have a clear way of dealing with dispute resolutions such as this when they arise (and believe me they will!)

If you really must break up (I feel like I'm giving marriage counselling here...) I'm sure you can do it without being an asshole, something along the lines of the letter you've posted here would be fine - to the point and no personal attacks.

As for your partner having your IP now, well that's probably too late now - horse, stable door, bolted etc. I think the best you can manage is to perhaps come up with some sort of agreement (possibly consult a legal-document-writing-type-person to get this in writing) so that you both agree not to sue each other in the event that either one of you does well with it and the other gets sue happy.

Yes, it'll set you back and you'll have to find someone else which is why I suggest you try and work it out first. Otherwise, I'm sure there web sites where you can advertise for this sort of thing ;-)

Failing all of this and you decide to ignore my advice, I would suggest a fight to the death involving pistols at dawn or something.

All that is assuming you have a valid case against him not contributing--and not just "we don't get along".

I had been doing the majority of the work and the rest of the team was not performing to the level I had expected as well as not meeting several deadlines that they had agreed to.

The only real sticky part is that the really great flashy idea was from one of the other people, who has the potential to pull a ConnectU, but not really a leg to stand on.

No one besides me wrote a bit of code, except there was a minimalistic HTML design stuff.

I made sure to explain what my reasons were for the split and why I was leaving and did say that I intended to make something derivative, although not in direct competition. The platform was more interesting to me then the community site that was the other person's idea. So I'll just think it through and find another way to implement the community aspect without the exact implementation that he had.

The bottom line is that this happens and it is better to make the break earlier, especially before the incorporation. Start looking for a new co-founder and get a better sense of their work before you enter into any kind of a partnership.

As for the IP part of it, that's life. If you never share the idea with anyone without legal papers first you'll never share the idea with anyone who will help you with it in the early stages.

Also, make sure that they are on the same page as you concerning work ethics and integrity. They might be able to become a better hacker, but if they are trying to trick people and pulling underhanded stunts that is a direct reflection on you ...

What did your partner feels about your work?

-- if you know its going to be an issue, its going to be a bigger one later. do what is fair and right as soon as possible. if you need to go your own ways, thats what you need to do, there is always a new twist on an old idea waiting to be developed. having been through this on the other side, i started a company a while ago, sensed things were not right and then after i spent an additional 100k on salaries and training, the guys left with jobs at another company and i was left with nothing. as an entrepreneur you have to learn to trust your gut it will allow you to make the first move advantage.

b) operational-- not having this suck the life out of the project

--it may, and you will have to face that. most likely you can say that you share ownership of the code/ idea and you can not exclude each other from using it, else release it to the public domain and make sure that either of you can use it along with the world. the value in something is being able to move it forward, not in what you have already produced. if you are so early in the company its likely that you have not produced enough to directly execute, you will need to still move the code/ project forwards. quite a bit.

c) legal -- I don't want a Facebook/ConnectU situation down the road

-- rethink the problem and solution, for our group, we agreed to own our own code up until the point it was real, maybe you loose a bit of the code, but if there was no nda between members you can go off an recreate it with your own twist. not every idea is novel and unless the patent process was started then that maybe your defense moving forwards.

d) strategic -- not that I expect it to happen, but what's to stop my-soon-to-be-ex-co-founder from taking the idea and finding someone else to execute it? [insert standard boilerplate here about ideas being worth nothing without execution]

consumers like choice and having core differences in values between two competing products helps define the market better and broader. if you are going to compete head to head with a co-founder i am sure you are going to have different core values to derive as a niche. but, even though you are competing, you will be sharing the burden of advertising and developing your market. Java, helped sell .Net; friendster, helped sell MySpace and Facebook; hotmail, helped sell gmail, etc.... competition is good, and a market without any might not be much of a market at all. do not fear the genre, find ways to embrace it.

you might find that you can form two separate businesses that share an initial code base and your partner might go for it if he feels you are driving the company in the wrong direction too.

I can't comment on (c) but:

a: Just be open about your reasons. It isn't a personal attack to say someone is a slow/inefficient worker.

b: Work away from the partner. I hope you aren't roommates

c: Ideas aren't worth much, and it sounds like your friend isn't the competition to worry about.

I would follow the advice you hear when you read about how to quit: be direct, polite, in a private/scheduled meeting, and open.

Or tell them YOU want out for personal reasons, but you'd like to have a written agreement saying you could pursue this on your own down the road at some point.

Next time get a boilerplate buy/sell agreement as early as you can... It's like a prenup and provides clear guidelines for parting ways.

a) Annoy your co-founder like a nagging girlfriend and he will break up with you instead of you breaking up with him. Everytime he uploads a new file or makes a change, complain about it. Ask him to work longer hours or pay you through equity to work longer hours. Find new ways to nag him to no end. Pretty soon he will find you terrible and give up, giving you the project and you will never have to worry again.

If solution "A" doesn't solve the problem move to solution B.

b) Cut and run, now. When you become a multi-millionaire he may go after you. Even if he does, well you are a multi-millionaire and have the money to fight (aka FaceBook).

If solution "B" doesn't solve the problem move to solution C.

c) Program naked, demand that your co-founder be there so you can collaborate closer to come up with the best product. Tell him you won't program unless if he is there.

---

I believe you have a self-confidence problem, it is very important to be confident in yourself. If your partner is not pulling his weight and you are not far enough into the project to determine if it is worth a red hot cent then it is a great time to split.

Then give him everything you have done and set it up for him on another server. You program on your copy, he programs on his copy, if he ever bothers. I am sure he won't so that means that you will never owe him anything.