Back to Home11/17/2025, 9:04:47 PM

Founder Leaving Startup, How?

burneracount_sf
1 points
0 comments

Mood

thoughtful

Sentiment

negative

Category

business

Key topics

startup

founder

venture-backed

My cofounder asked me to leave our startup.

I own around 10% (vested), the company is doing enterprise b2b. It's a venture-backed startup currently "valued" at ~$20M based on SAFEs.

Right now ARR is at around 600k. Growth was flatlining for the last 2 years. Next year it will probably double to around 1.2-1.4M ARR (got them some deals recently that will convert next year).

Company is in a market that - if they do not add additional services - is not A) very big (maybe TAM 1B max). The market has very low margins.

What is a reasonable way to part? Would you optimise on cash pay out or equity?

A cofounder is asked to leave their venture-backed startup and must decide how to part ways, considering their 10% vested equity and the company's uncertain future.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Light discussion

First comment

11m

Peak period

2

Hour 1

Avg / period

2

Comment distribution2 data points

Based on 2 loaded comments

Key moments

  1. 01Story posted

    11/17/2025, 9:04:47 PM

    1d ago

    Step 01
  2. 02First comment

    11/17/2025, 9:15:30 PM

    11m after posting

    Step 02
  3. 03Peak activity

    2 comments in Hour 1

    Hottest window of the conversation

    Step 03
  4. 04Latest activity

    11/17/2025, 9:27:51 PM

    1d ago

    Step 04

Generating AI Summary...

Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (0 comments)

Discussion hasn't started yet.

ID: 45958283Type: storyLast synced: 11/17/2025, 9:06:04 PM

Want the full context?

Jump to the original sources

Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.

View on HN