Dear SaaStr: What Should I Do if My Co-founder is a Complete Jerk?

It’s not going to work.

The issue isn’t so much that he’s a complete jerk. It’s that you think he is.

He’s thus clearly already driving you so nuts that you have a dysfunctional founder team.

This is usually unfixable. You may be wrong, he may be right, who knows. And in other cases, people are OK working with jerks. Sometimes I am OK with it, if their heart is in the right place and their role is constrained.

And if it doesn’t feel too far gone, bring in a neutral, calm third party you both respect or at least agree to.  Bring in a work therapist.  Usually, this doesn’t actually solve the underlying problem, but it often helps you work out a path forward, often with one of you transitioning out.

But once you look at your co-founder with contempt. Once you no longer believe. Once every time you see them, 10, 15, 20 times a day, you think … Complete Jerk.

It’s just a matter of time.

Assume one of you will be gone within 180 days.

More here:

A Simple Commitment Test For You And Your Co-Founders

 

Nuts image from here

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