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Comment by throwaway4921 | Hacker News Reader

Wow. Thanks for the criticism. (No, I'm not being sarcastic. One of the great things about the Internet is that people say what they honestly think.)

I have settled into "just a developer" mindset, because every time I raise issues, I lose. I pointed out things that were screwed up a long time ago, and they never changed. I guess, subconsciously, I've just accepted that I'm not an alpha male, at least not yet. I'd love to be wrong on that, but I've felt "beta" for more than a year.

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If you were an alpha male, under these circumstances you would have left long ago. Someone who refuses to address problems is not worth keeping as a co-founder.

And to think I wonder why more women aren't in this field.

I did. Not in a "here's why you're wrong" confrontational manner, nor with lines in the sand, but I did raise many of the issues. It got me nowhere.

I don't think I'm an alpha male, though I wouldn't step as far as "not worth keeping". I make decisions about when to confront and when not and sometimes they're the right ones, sometimes not.

No, no, I meant he's not worth keeping as a partner, not you!

How does your stake in the company compare with that of th CEO?

Decent share (10-15 range, pre-dilution). Higher than an employee would usually get, and enough that if the company has a decent exit, I'd cash out well. I don't know how many points he's keeping for himself and how many he's allocated to option pools and other people in the company.

I've no problem with the equity number. My issues are: (1) I don't really have any power, and (2) I'm not having fun anymore, so if we don't make money I'm wasting time. For the first 18 months at this job, I could honestly say that even if we made zero and my deferred back pay never came, it would've been worth my while because I had a lot of fun and learned a lot.

Thanks for taking it graciously. I just came back to edit since I was worried it might have come across a bit strong. And no offense was intended, it reflects criticism I've got of myself in retrospect.

Best of luck with whatever road you head down.

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