Technical cofounder not performing

[nordicfrost]

Hey guys, we’re 2 cofounders working on a project about 5 months together now, and it’s going way slower than I expected.

I’ve grown our leads pipeline to over $50k ARR in those 5 months of starting but we cant deliver because the MVP is not built!

My cto has kids and twice my age, so i dont know if im expecting too much or i have to find a replacement (i dont have kids - not even married)

Note: im non-tech, but have 1x exit (used a dev house for mvp prev)

How Do you guys with kids manage your time? Is this normal?

Edit: for context: prev startup i was a solo founder so couldnt have the same expectations on employees

But i decided to bring on a tech co founder because it makes more sense now, is it wrong to expect them to work at least close to what I’m giving? (Basically 12-15hrs/day)

 

[tm55]

@nordicfrost Number of hours don’t matter. What matters is what business needs and where things are.

This is a long term relationship. Start from the position of trust.

You and your cofounder should talk about business and personal. Have a regular check in about personal life and how is she/he feeling in general. Talk to them if the schedule is working etc.

On business, talk to them that there is 50k in pipeline. How are we going to turn it into revenue. They should be thinking about it as much as anyone else. A co-founder is not an employee with specific focus area. They are equal partner to build the business.

 

[jonson68]

@tm55 This!

 

[hilario2]

@nordicfrost How complex of an MVP are we talking? Also, not sure how many people are capable of producing high quality technical work for 12+ hours a day, especially with a family. I know it's a startup but that seems extreme.

 

[theworrywart]

@hilario2 4hrs of high cognitive load is all I can muster for a day.

 

[turtledove13]

@theworrywart 4 hours of "real work" per day is a well-supported metric.

 

[theworrywart]

@turtledove13 Sounds about right. Once the brain is fried for the day, theres not much you can do about it but spin your wheels.. Or find something brainless yet productive to do.

 

[lianehmumi1972]

@theworrywart Adding short naps to long cognitive hours make all the difference.

 

[loneburro]

@nordicfrost More than 50-60 hours a week is unrealistic with kids

 

[jasonkwek]

@loneburro …if you want to be a present parent.

50-60 hrs is def possible, but you sacrifice that child time and shove money into nannies, sitters, etc and basically say hi and bye to your kids. For some it’s worth it…absolutely not for me but a few friends of friends do it and have been doing it for years.

Making it to an exit and never having to work again sounds great on paper but then you walk over to your kids and they’re like, who are you bro

 

[nordicfrost]

@loneburro Thanks dad

Is this why YC backs 20+ year olds?

 

[lawforchrist]

@nordicfrost Your 20s is the time to grind, but that doesn't just mean heads down blindly working your ass off.

You should be accumulating skills, watching what works and doesn't, building network and saving to set yourself up in your 30s+ if you're fortunate enough to be able to.

Once you start adding true responsilities that you can't fully offload like kids, your trajectory crystallizes for a bit - now you're investing in your future relationship with your kids and their personal growth at the opportunity cost of investing in your career.

I made the mistake of jumping into a startup with friends when I had (very young) kids and they didn't and I wasn't able to pull my weight so I pulled out. They now have kids and ee joke about it, because they're going through the same thing. Now that I'm on the other side of that I have a lot more bandwidth to grind and grow again, but I also have time management skills I couldn't fathom earlier in my career.

That said, it's on your CF to br responsible about estimating their own capabilities and maybe self-reflect on their ability to commit and deliver. That's a hard conversation too.

Good luck!

 

[tigermoose]

@nordicfrost 12-15 hours per day is unrealistic and i doubt that you are putting in that amount of time either.

 

[goaztecs]

@tigermoose Even if he did I would assume he would get burned out and not be productive after a certain amount of hours.

 

[kidon7]

@goaztecs Those numbers r totally realistic. Im doing the same.

 

[sheamiao]

@nordicfrost Non-technical hours are not equal to technical hours. 80 hours of non-technical work is equal to 40 hours of technical work. You are overestimating the mental demand for your work. Expecting 12 hours a day from a technical person is laughable. It shows that you learned nothing about technical people before your first exit.

For all non-technical people in this thread, technical people ARE NOT FACTORY WORKERS.