> I mean more of a competence/confidence issue leading to destructive behaviour, not malicious intent.
I should have walked away from a co-founder in a similar situation.
Short answer: Your co-founder is probably a good person. Plenty of people are good people. The qualities of running a successful startup are hard to come by, and the sooner you realize your co-founder can't do it, the sooner you should walk away.
Long answer: I worked with a guy who I really hit it off with; who was a good person. But after a year I realized he was mostly letting his imagination run away, and didn't have the leadership qualities needed to design or run a startup. I should have walked away much earlier when he fundamentally misunderstood certain rules about asking the CTO to build an idea, and I should have walked away when he couldn't articulate a one-page business plan after we locked ourselves away for a week.
When I called it quits, we remained friends and he even helped me meet his wife. But, I think things would have been smoother if I walked away when I suspected problems, instead of assuming things would work out.
I should have walked away from a co-founder in a similar situation.
Short answer: Your co-founder is probably a good person. Plenty of people are good people. The qualities of running a successful startup are hard to come by, and the sooner you realize your co-founder can't do it, the sooner you should walk away.
Long answer: I worked with a guy who I really hit it off with; who was a good person. But after a year I realized he was mostly letting his imagination run away, and didn't have the leadership qualities needed to design or run a startup. I should have walked away much earlier when he fundamentally misunderstood certain rules about asking the CTO to build an idea, and I should have walked away when he couldn't articulate a one-page business plan after we locked ourselves away for a week.
When I called it quits, we remained friends and he even helped me meet his wife. But, I think things would have been smoother if I walked away when I suspected problems, instead of assuming things would work out.