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Go away from this "co-founder"!

1) If you are tech co-founder, then he has to be a marketing & sales co-founder. You no need second tech founder in most cases.

2) The roles of each founders in a startup have to be defined before you've started.

3) "He wants to outsource all development to India" - that's a VERY BAD idea.

Good Luck!

He is not a founder. He is an egomaniac with delusions of grandeur. He thinks he "shouldn't have to argue" because he is a founder? Utter bullshit. He has to be willing and able to communicate with his cofounder and that involves hashing things out.

I hate arguing online because it is almost always a form of fighting with people over emotional bullshit. But I have zero problem with the other definition of arguing: debating ideas to get at the truth.

You can't build a solid company if you cannot do that.

Don't start a company with someone whose precious feelings come ahead of clear communication. That's insanity.

I would be extremely sceptical about this startup.

"He also has never written a line of code, and has said he doesn't have time, but has said that he knows how to manage developers.

He wants to outsource all development to India.

He claims the product is "already designed", just step 2 is developing it."

This is to me highlights the fact he doesn't really understand how software products are developed.

Yes. And he claims he is the "founder", and he honestly still hasn't been able to tell me what it is he will be doing while I'll be working my ass off writing code for this thing.

Keep in mind this isn't yet a real company. Just a google drive with documents.

Did he come up with the idea or initial funding? Why is he even on your team to begin with?

He came up with the idea. Has no funding. He is a long time high school and college friend and the only person I know that wants to pursue entrepreneurship.

Eek, went through the same thing except we did it for a whole year. Skillset or not, sharing core values/beliefs is most important. Because when shit goes south, if you have someone who is just as committed as you are (for the right reasons), there is nothing you can't overcome when the core values align.

Although this is really hard because people show their truest faces when shit goes south. So you won't know for sure unless this is someone who you've spent and enjoyed spending lots of time with for a while.

After spending time thinking critically about the past year, here are some rough open-ended questions I've come up with that I think would shed light into one's core values.

How do you approach solving a problem (any size, scope)? What locus of control do you believe in? Is there value in rolling up your sleeves?

If I ask him those questions, and he becomes offended at the fact, I think that will be a red flag. He seems to think that anything he says can't be questioned...going back to earlier, how he says he doesn't want to argue to get his point across when I asked him about what his role would be.

He said the way I asked it made him offended.

My view is that I touched on one of his weaknesses and it made him insecure about his position in the business.

I feel for you.

Don't do it.

Money brings out the worst in people.

Arguing is healthy. Just depends on how it comes & what it's over. Obviously, if your relationship deteriorates to the point that you are arguing for little value then that's bad - I do think arguing early is better than arguing late. It'll be insightful for you and him, to be honest. You'll learn a little more about yourself and a lot more about him in how the argument progresses and more importantly, how it ends.

All non-tech founders are insecure about their position in the business. I think any competent non-tech founder should be insecure about their position imo, if there is a component of technology to the business.

I was too, so I just kept working and supporting in as many ways as I could think of.

Thankfully, our product was online-to-offline, so there was plenty of work to be done.

But don't do it.

> He seems to think that anything he says can't be questioned...going back to earlier, how he says he doesn't want to argue to get his point across when I asked him about what his role would be.

Such a red flag. Even if he is a great ... whatever this attitude is a big red flag. You won't be able to work this guy.

You might want to read up on the Reggie Brown Vs. Snapchat lawsuit settlement.

I used to organize parties with one of my best friends and had yelled at one another numerous times... Some times I had to back down, others he had to back down, but we respected each other immensely and still do.

If you are afraid to speak your mind, run. It's going to get worse.

Not afraid, I told him I'm sorry if I'm rude and that I'm not trying to undermine him, I just want to get up to speed on his thoughts and goals.

His answer should have been "sales, marketing, and business dev", which is the other half of the equation once you have developed a working product.

It sounds like he wants to get others to do all the work and reap all the benefits because he is the "idea guy".

I would move on.

He wants to get interns to do business dev. He actually said that to me.

Don't bother answering all these questions. Get rid of this guy. He's toxic and has no idea what he's doing.

Yeeeaah, this sounds like a bad idea, OP. Ditch and get someone who is more than an 'idea guy'. Non-technical project founders are way too common in indie game development. No art skills, no programming skills, just ideas and a 'management mindset'.

Also, you should ask him to define API, then let him go for being a bad match for the project due to lack of technical skills. Waste no time on such people.

It really depends on the kind of product you're building.

In certain situations, non-technical co-founders will have more work on their plate than the engineers. In other situations, they'll have very little to do.

It sounds like you're building the kind of product where engineering is most of the work. But it's still worth asking yourself: is engineering going to end up giving you a real competitive edge in your market? Or is it the marketing, operations, sales, or other back-of-house departments that will drive your business? If the former, maybe you don't need the founder. If the latter, than his might be the most important role.

> "theoretically, if there are 2 of you, we can cut the time in half".

Is antithetical to him claiming that "he knows how to manage developers." Nine women can't make a baby in 1 month.

Four words: "Show me the money"

Run!

Hey thanks. This sounds like the first reaction that I had. Can you elaborate on experiences that are similar to mine?

Like a marriage, you should be in sync with your founder/partner. Anger, evasiveness, defensiveness when planning for the future are all red flags.

In fact I've usually had trouble with founders that were so slick and evasive I didn't notice they were not on the same page until too late. Later I learned they were listening at doors, making comments to team members to divide us, and even in one case following me to a dinner with an old friend (to make sure I wasn't being recruited).

So an obvious non-fit like describe by the OP is maybe an easier situation.

RUN ryanlm RUN. Enough said.

He also thinks it's his job to pick the tech platform. He literally thinks he is capable of doing it.

He likes to use buzz words a lot. I think he should be a tech recruiter/salesman

Ask HN: Non tech co founder