Ask HN: I am a founding engineer leaving a startup
I wanted to ask a question on the HN. I am a founding engineer in a SaaS software stratup that is gathering significant traction. I have helped build the startup from ground up and directed non-technical founders along the way to the proper software engineering process. (If you ever tried to explain features vs. quality to a sales guy - you know what I mean). I have recruited a very good technical team and wasn't afraid of firing fat. One of the founders provided the capital to get the company going and operate for a year.
Quite a few times it looked that the startup would flop, but we all persevered and pushed through. Because the founders are non-technical, the product is to a large extent my work and my baby. I voiced disagreements, fought for MVP and controlling the scope. There are many other people working on this product, but I have a disproportionate contribution.
Now, that the startup is steaming along and gathering users, both founders seem to have rose glasses on and hiring VP of Sales/Biz Dev and VP of Product, CFO, buying other companies without consulting with me. I think those decisions have merit, but are suboptimal to improving the product and having happy users. I feel we already have a world-class product, but there is definitely room for improvement. I think we have lots of dev challenges ahead and should staff up on the developers(we are a software product after all). Nobody is asking my opinion though and I disagree with the direction. I also don't think it is a good idea to bring VP level guys whose initiative the dev team won't be able to support unless we have more developers.
I do want to say that I was well-compensated (for Toronto, Canada) during this time, but still provided incredible value. I am not boasting - I have a key position in building a 30-million-dollar company and 150-180K/year is not quite as good a compensation for that.
Moreover, I was side-tracked on compensation negotiation, ESOP, etc. And, I feel that my significant software, management, negotiation skills are being devalued. I feel that I no longer want to enrich people that don't provide the value back to me. One founder is a nice guy with whom I have a good relationship, another one is riding the success.
I was a successful freelancer before and I am considering quitting and looking for work elsewhere. I already have a contract lined up.
I pause because if a product becomes wildly successful financially - it would very positively reflect on my career and I can play that card for a few years after.
So what do you say HN? What would you do?