[JoeCortopassi]

Better to do the right thing, than the wrong thing 'righter'.

If he isn't meeting your needs, you should let him go. But keep this in mind: He took a $25 an hour pay cut to be with you guys, and from what it sounds like, has no equity in the company. How motivated would you be?

[richardjortega]

We want him to join us in an incubator/accelerator but we're not sure about his passion or drive. Should we continue to bare with him so that after an accelerator we go our separate ways?

Yes, you have a point in how motivated would I be in his shoes... so then how much equity is fair for getting paid to work but transitioning to founder? My partner and I have not taken any salary/pay (even from paying clients), we actually put more of our money in to bootstrap. Every ounce of additional cash I have goes there, and the sense of urgency from him isn't addressed.

Or is it too late already? I'd love for him to be a founder, but I don't want to hand over equity to a person who is going to make it uncomfortable to work with in the office. We actually prefer him to work from his home office (as does he) so we don't have to be around from him.

Then he'll do random things like switch from us buying him lunch, to buying us lunch - then we're like WTF?

I feel like I'm venting - I'm sorry. I'm just at the point that I would like to see the startup move to the next step...

Thank you for your response!

[brandoncordell]

Is he really an asshole to you guys personally, or are you calling him an asshole because he is missing deadlines? I've worked with a bunch of asshole programmers, they all usually have a god complex and think they are the best in the field regardless of what happens.

It's hard for a programmer to stay motivated in the long run when things pop in his head like "I get paid $25/hr less than I could get somewhere else, shit this company may not even survive."

It's not too late, but honestly you need to step up and be a boss. You can't let your employee continue to act this way for multiple reasons. First, if this isn't/wasn't his normal work ethic, something has changed. You need to act like a leader and just ask him. If you really want him to be a founder, and he needs something that isn't asking for the world than give it to him! It sounds like you owe a lot of your projects current state to him. If he's worked like this all along, and you haven't said anything than that is your problem and you need to deal with it. A poor employee like that can bring a company down if you just like it sit and fester.

As far as he's the "only one that knows the backend", any programmer that's proficient in the language of your application can get in there and get to work. It may take a little bit of time to get used to your current programmers style and quirks, but it shouldn't be an issue.

It really boils down to the fact you need to sit him down and talk to him. Be up front and honest, voice your concerns. If there are troubles in his life, he'll let you know and you can work with him. If you get attitude and apathy from him than figure out IF you can even make him happy. If so, try. If you can't than it really sounds like you need to find another programmer. Not every programmer has the passion of a founder, especially if there is a family at home that isn't being taken care of as much as they could be.

Good luck with your situation. I hope you get it resolved cleanly.

- Brandon

[richardjortega]

Thanks Brandon, I'd love for him to just be a bit more social and give us updates. I'd like for him to be a partner and turn this around.