How many opportunities should I give my co-founder?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5852319

by rocksockboybox • 13 years ago

6 16 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

So, my co-founder and I started building our web/mobile consumer app nearly 3 months ago, and while we did have a few slight pivots over that time, he has told me each and every week that he would have a working prototype working "by Monday", and he never does.

He always says he's one step closer, or he's been reading the documentation of the API we're using, or he's researching more scalable server options, and so forth, and he never actually executes on the game plan, which means he's never actually meeting his development goals.

Because I'm not a developer, it makes it difficult to me to know when to call bullshit, or when to really start thinking about calling it quits with him and focus on finding another co-founder with the same hustle mentality. Lately, that is where my head is going. I'm definitely all about trying to understand why something is taking longer than expected, but when it's the same excuses week in and week out, I feel like there is something wrong with the team, and not my higher than normal expectations.

What experiences do you all have in these situations, and what advice might you give for me? This is the most frustrating and debilitating things I've ever experienced in business, and I need it fixed as soon as I can. Please help hacker community!

targusman• 13 years ago

Depends on how complicated your project is and his skill level

rocksockboybox4• 13 years ago

well, he is fairly skilled (or so I was lead to believe), and his main goal has been to just have a working search function that is pulling data from an API, and that's it. A few other developers have said that should take no more than a few hours, so I'm left sitting here saying wtf?

bifrost3• 13 years ago

How were you lead to believe he was skilled? Does he have any completed solo projects?

czbond2• 13 years ago

What is both his experience and yours in creating a software product? Are you adding new requirements/functionality each week? If so, stop and lock the 1,2 or 3 tops that need to be launched. Is your co-founder experienced in the areas he's developing in, or is he having to learn on the fly? Many newer dev's have a hard time setting tasks and priorities. However, it can also seem to you that he's doing nothing, when in actuality he's doing mountains of work - which may not be visible to you. Ask him to explain in "laymans terms, like I'm your grandmother" what he's doing each week, and the problems, and ask how it could be made more simple, and easier. Just my 2 cents.

rocksockboybox4• 13 years ago

He is a web-dev for a local technology company, and has been for the last 3 years. I've been on the business side of 2 startups, but have never been CEO and directly in charge of managing development and overall milestones.

As far as features and functionality go, we aren't adding new features each week. His main goal was to create a search function that pulled results from an API that we're using, and that's it. We haven't been able to plan any other features or weekly/monthly requirements because we can't seem to get past point A.

His excuses have been that he's truly researching the best possible way to do this, but I can't seem to shake the feeling that he is spending too much time on research instead of producing very minimal results.

czbond2• 13 years ago

He may be overthinking it. My suggestion would be how could he hack together a solution in 3 days total. Then use that and iterate. He's probably worried about scaling, and being featured on TechCrunch, etc. Which are common. But if he's the type to always make slow and methodical decisions, he might not be the best fit in a startup.

bifrost3• 13 years ago

I think you're probably on the right track because if its a couple months with no useful progress, not even a skeleton of a site, you're probably getting snowed. Then again, if you're actually pivoting he could be blowing you off because he has no faith.

wavefunction• 13 years ago

I think you're just looking for a blessing to cut him loose because you've already lost faith.

Personally I would. I sometimes procrastinate on my own projects, but I don't have a partner I have to answer to either.

xr4tiii2• 13 years ago

One thing you might try to do is set a deadline by setting up an important meeting to show someone the prototype. That way there is more of an urgent need to get point A up and running. If he can't get it finished a few days before the meeting then you have your answer on what you should do.

rocksockboybox4• 13 years ago

Ironically enough, we have 2 investor meetings this week, which is the reason for my stress. Maybe this will be the decision maker..

xr4tiii2• 13 years ago

If you need a plan b I might be able to help. I've been a programmer professional for the last 16 years. (front end and backend web apps) If your interested I can provide more details of my background/experience and my startups.

gexla• 13 years ago

If your co-founder isn't taking a professional approach or at least coding his way out of his other shortcomings then this may not work. If you don't have a business, then you just have a hobby.

When I work on client projects, among the first things I have to do is break down the project so that I can provide an accurate as possible quote as well as the timeline.

When the client accepts the quote, that breakdown serves as roadmap for the client.I need to start out with X and that portion will take X amount of time. After that, I go to the next item on the roadmap. My client may not know anything about development, but the roadmap is easy to follow.

If I run into problems with X, then I communicate those problems with the client and then I adjust the roadmap. With this communication and clear roadmap, the client is generally at ease, even when problems appear. The client can see where we are at, what we have done and what's left to do. The client also knows the approximate time left on the project due to my estimates.

Some projects aren't that simple, especially if you don't have a client to work with. You might be working on something which has an open deadline and which may pivot at any point. The developers of one of the paid tools that I use refuse to provide a roadmap to customers.

However, your developer can at least provide a rough sketch that both of you can follow. If you are still having problems, then cut it out into smaller chunks. Perhaps at this point you might see that your project is too ambitious and that you should cut down on the features so that you can get out that prototype faster.

Wasting time on things that aren't important in the beginning is a great way to procrastinate. The developer mind wants to work on what it feels like working on, not always what it really needs to be working on. If you don't even have a prototype and your developer is looking into "more scalable options" then that's a classic symptom of procrastination. Again, get a sketch of the roadmap. If it's not the current item on the roadmap (or in some cases it might not even be on the roadmap) then don't bother with it.

It's easy to fall into the time wasting trap. I have a start-up idea that I have been doing a bit of work on. The first thing my developer brain wanted to do was to jump into coding. What I really needed to be doing was building a very basic portal, reaching out to potential users and working on content. At that point, I was a ways from having to do any coding, yet I was spending time looking at what platform I should build it on. Time waster!

I would give this another shot. If you now the developer is good, then maybe there is something holding that developer up. Talk it through and see if you can sort of start over with some sort of roadmap. Maybe the developer is stuck on something he is having a hard time with. You really won't know anything without better communication.

If neither of you are drawing payments from this, then it's possible the project is just really low on his list of priorities. Maybe he would rather be doing just about anything other than working on your start-up idea. If the other half isn't passionate enough to be hitting this like a starving dog hitting a steak, then this probably won't work out. It's hard to find people who are as passionate about your idea as you are. If that's the case you either need to find something to pay, keep looking for another co-founder or just learn how to code it yourself. In the past three months, you could have learned a lot.

rdouble• 13 years ago

It doesn't sound like you have a real startup if neither one of you are doing any work and he has another job. Maybe just give up?

sharemywin• 13 years ago

What does he have done? Software isn't binary it doesn't just appear. Does he have a database developed? Does he have web pages designed? Ask to see whta he has completed. Also, sounds like you need a project plan.

How many opportunities should I give my co-founder?

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