Ask HN: Should I stay or should I go?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5435510

by XXthrowawayXX • 13 years ago

14 13 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I've been the sole developer with a startup for about 2 months now. I have serious doubts about the team and am doubtful that the product will be successful (right now all the money is coming from one of the co-founder's pockets).

No one else on the team seems to know what they are doing. I should have realized this earlier, but initially I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

The two co-founders constantly bicker and fight (over little things, like where a document is in Google Drive) and seem to be always trying to score points against one another. I mediate to move discussions forward, and I feel like the only adult in the room.

One co-founder is always interrupting to talk about random news articles or something they saw on TV that is tangentially related to the product. They'll schedule conference calls with the whole team for cold sales calls. Other times, they will bring friends over to the office to show them that they are doing a startup.

The other co-founder is OK, but seems to lack a vision for the product.

If I were running things, there wouldn't even be a developer at this point. It would be much smarter for them to focus on developing their audience (since the site is going to need millions of users to turn a profit), than hiring a developer for a website that doesn't have a design (or sitemap, for that matter).

I can't see anyone investing in us. I would point out our slow audience growth numbers, but we aren't even keeping track of that.

I know if I leave them, I will feel bad. I don't think it will hurt the company too much, since no real development as been done and all my work is documented. Also I have an equity stake in the company, and I'm not sure if that complicates things or not.

Should I go because I feel this startup is a waste of my time? Or should I stay in the hopes that they'll be able to get their shit together? It's already been two months and any progress we've made has been hard-fought by me.

jmount• 13 years ago

I'm leaning towards go. I have seen a lot of start-up with a positive vibe. So win or lose at least spend your time somewhere pleasant.

vyrotek• 13 years ago

It doesn't sound like anyone is really 'hungry' for success at this company. Is the source of funding from this Co-Founder not limited in any way? Are you being paid?

Sometimes the best thing to do before just walking away is to set some goals with very clear expectation and consequences. One of those consequences can be that you will leave. This way, if you are interested in saving your relationship with these guys you can avoid dropping it on them out of nowhere. Who knows, maybe they'll turn around. But I can feel your frustrations. It's no fun babysitting co-workers.

XXthrowawayXX3• 13 years ago

That's a very good point about the unlimited funding. I am being paid, but I think the co-founder has deep pockets to keep this thing going. Which is almost unfortunate, because it means no one is desperate for this thing to be a success.

I'll try to think of some goals I can set.

niggler• 13 years ago

" I have serious doubts about the team and am doubtful that the product will be successful "

That's a sign to go. If you don't believe in the team and the product, then why are you spending time on the startup?

benologist• 13 years ago

Don't feel bad, it's not your company but it is your life. It is obviously already dysfunctional and there's no point gambling it will stop being dysfunctional on top of the already slim chance it will succeed at all.

YuriNiyazov• 13 years ago

You can just start dicking around just like them. Learn a new language/framework/NoSQL DB on their dime "because it will be useful later". If no one gets up to manage you and set some realistic and meaningful goals, all the better. If someone does, then maybe they give a real shit after all.

akhilrex• 13 years ago

You should leave. But give them time to find a replacement or mend their ways. Moreover you would not want to put the entire blame of a failed(lets hope not) product on you. Also leave only if that is the last resort. Working in startups is a great leaning experience, especially for developers. You being the some developer must be taking care of everything from ideation to execution and deployment. Very few people get to do that. But if you are unhappy with the work, the people are not nice and the product is dodgy its better to call it quits. Its not cowardice, its practical. This is not adding any value to you or them

argonaut• 13 years ago

It seems exceedingly obvious to me that you should leave. Which makes me wonder in the first place why you are even being hesitant about this decision.

1. You should not feel bad about anything. They could fire you at any time (assuming control is split equally among the three of you). You do not owe them anything. As long as you're respectful in telling them you're leaving, there is nothing wrong with quitting.

2. That being said, I also believe that you're a bit misguided about the best direction for a startup at this stage. I disagree that it is smarter to focus on developing an audience instead of building the product. In order to build an audience you at least need an MVP to show to potential customers/users. Your slow audience growth numbers are easily explained by the lack of a minimally fleshed-out product. You are not going to see huge numbers for a landing page. And many products require some sort of education / early adoption before they get mass traction. Speaking for myself, if I see a landing page I'm not going to even bother putting in my email on the invite list. I'd like to see a demo at the very least. The fact that you guys don't have an MVP after two months is a bit of a concern for me. I'm not sure how much responsibility you bear for that. This point is irrelevant as to your decision on whether you should leave, but it's something for you to reflect on if you ever want to start another company (by yourself, with others, etc.).

XXthrowawayXX3• 13 years ago

Re: the no MVP. Since this is a content-based startup, I think our MVP should be some sort of blog/tumblr to build an audience. Our content is our core product. We aren't doing anything novel in terms of technology. Right now we're building a platform around that content, but I think our efforts are better spent building an audience than building the platform.

lifeisstillgood• 13 years ago

I have one awkward question for you :

- why do you choose to work on certain pieces of functionality and not others?

1. Build something like graphite/carbon to provide metrics and display them easily. Start with the ones you mention - audience numbers and growth.

2. Talk to the co founders - start with a letter that you simply hand over the table in the pub. In it explain pretty much the above comment, maybe without the only adult comments

3. As someone else mentioned, set some goals and prepare to walk.

4. Consider your exit strategy - how much runway do you have personally? Want to get FTE or contract?

Basically try to mend it - but give yourself a fixed time horizon of no more than three months

XXthrowawayXX3• 13 years ago

#1 is a good point -- I never thought about building some type of metric dashboard. Thanks!

meerita• 13 years ago

Better to go out. No doubt. Companies shouldn't be a TV Show drama. Better going before things go bad or very awkward.

xauronx• 13 years ago

I would take this post and email it to them. What's the worst that could happen? If you're debating leaving anyhow, you might want to give them a dose of truth and let them have the opportunity to see the error in their ways. OR they could always fire you. In which case you accomplish the same ends, without the guilt. In that case they would be the ones doing something "wrong". Two months of work at a startup isn't really valuable experience on a resume anyhow, so you wouldn't be losing anything.

Ask HN: Should I stay or should I go?

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