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Ask HN: Submitting notice in a very small company? (co-founder)

10 points by throwawyfounder ↗ HN
I co-founded a startup a little over two years ago with two other co-founders. Since founding the company, we haven't hired any additional employees. I am the only person on the team in a programming / engineering role.

Recently, I've become frustrated with the state of the company for a number of reasons, and I've started a job search. I expect that when offers start to come in, they'd like to know how much time I'll need from an offer letter to a start date, and I'm not sure what the correct answer is in my situation.

I'd like the company to survive my departure and do well. I like the other co-founders on a personal level and wouldn't want to leave them high and dry. I also have an equity stake in the company, of course. The other co-founders are very well-connected and I don't doubt they could find a more than capable engineer to hire as my replacement, but I'm clueless as to how much time I should give them when I submit notice.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Thank you.

6 comments

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gesman
The ones who'll make you an offer will want you to start in ~2 weeks. Anything longer - you'll increase your chance of sitting between 2 chairs.
tannk11001
If you have a good relationship with them and trust them: tell them as soon as possible -- even before you start receiving offers.

They'll respect your needs but will want to work with you to make a smooth transition to your replacement. That's going to take a while and they'll benefit from as much assistance and lead time as you can give them. You can work with them to make sure you have some paying work with them until you find a new job even once a new candidate is found.

If you're not completely burnt out, they might even try to address your concerns and make things more comfortable for you so that you don't have to look for a new job at all.

fsk
You mention equity? What percentage vested are you? How do you know it isn't worthless?

If you haven't raised money yet, or have enough revenue to pay yourself a decent salary, leaving is a legitimate option.

If the startup is screwed without you, and it doesn't have the revenue to pay you, then it's probably a doomed project.

hn-ts
If you want to keep a % of equity make sure that that you have all shareholders agreements tightly wrapped up and consult a lawyer. Although this might not always be sufficient I was a founder in a Techstars company where the founder fired and rehired all the employees under a different company after I left.
rajacombinator
As a cofounder you should let your fellow cofounders know as soon as possible - eg. now. It's the obvious and right thing to do. Help them find your replacement.