An entrepreneur writes, “After four months my talented and hard working cofounder resigned and surrendered all of his equity. How do I convince him to come back?”
Q: Cofounder Resigned and Surrendered his Equity
Q: I’ve been working with an incredible cofounder for the past six months. He’s hardworking, intelligent, and easy to work with. He came up with the idea for our startup and approached in an online forum. After some get acquainted conversations that went I agreed to partner with him in a 50-50 split.
We have been working together about four months and unfortunately my performance has been inconsistent as my motivation fluctuated. About three weeks ago I was feeling very frustrated with myself and felt I should take a break to my act together. Unfortunately this meant he had to handle several key meetings with prospects on his own. At the time he was supportive and encouraged me to follow my instincts, if I felt I needed time off I should take it.
The day I returned he told me he had decided to step down, surrender his equity, and leave the company. He offered to support the transition to ensure my success, but refused to elaborate further on his reasons for leaving.
I’m completely shocked. He seemed all in, and now I’m not sure how to move forward and how to convince him to come back. Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated.
A: People don’t always tell you when they stop trusting you. And once they stop trusting you, they will often act to reduce or eliminate future contact in a way that minimizes the risk of argument or unpleasantness.
Both parties must spell out expectations up front, jointly monitor performance and results against what was agreed to, and periodically solicit feedback on how well each is meeting the other’s expectations. In a co-founder situation, you work for each other. A partner relationship requires active communication, listening, and an ongoing commitment to self-improvement.
Startups are very hard and often fail. If you attract a competent and talented co-founder, they will always have options and will periodically evaluate the progress you have made together against starting over elsewhere.
If a competent partner believes you are headed for failure, they will likely communicate this multiple times in multiple ways. If you fail to respond or change your approach to address their concerns, they will conclude the situation is not salvageable and walk away.
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- Finding Co-Founders: Recruiting Like-Minded Individuals for Startup Success
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Cofounder Blog Post Series
- Finding a Co-Founder
- Finding a Co-Founder: Compromise and Get Started
- Finding a Co-Founder: 3 Months is a Long Time to Wait For Revenue
- Three Tips for Minimizing Misunderstandings Among Co-Founders
- 3 Questions Technical Entrepreneurs Have For Potential Co-Founders
My book Working Capital Vol 2: Assembling Your Team devotes a chapter to finding a cofounder as well as chapters on
- Forming an Advisory Board
- Finding Early Employees
- Consultants, Suppliers and Partners
- Activating Your Network
- Coming to a Working Relationship
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