'... It must have seemed like a reasonable decision at the time; nobody had been nearly as badly burned by Aaron at that point as they have been since. If this reputed eccentric whiz kid hacker who wrote your web framework wants to join your startup ...'
I don't think I meant to say there would be a problem in taking on a new founder. The fact is someone joining at later time is more vulnerable and therefore you have a greater leverage. Joining later in terms of negotiating is a weakness that could have been exploited.
'... I'd say that you shouldn't blame the people who made that reasonable of a decision for what happened since. ...'
It's not blame, simply 20/20 hindsight. I say the founders in this case have done an exceptional job executing especially with this their first business. I'm just making an observation.
If you are taking him on as a cofounder, you obviously think he is very high-powered and will do lots of amazing things. Therefore, being a non-bankrupt non-scumbag, you don't particularly try to screw him on the terms of the deal.
Comments
'... It must have seemed like a reasonable decision at the time; nobody had been nearly as badly burned by Aaron at that point as they have been since. If this reputed eccentric whiz kid hacker who wrote your web framework wants to join your startup ...'
I don't think I meant to say there would be a problem in taking on a new founder. The fact is someone joining at later time is more vulnerable and therefore you have a greater leverage. Joining later in terms of negotiating is a weakness that could have been exploited.
'... I'd say that you shouldn't blame the people who made that reasonable of a decision for what happened since. ...'
It's not blame, simply 20/20 hindsight. I say the founders in this case have done an exceptional job executing especially with this their first business. I'm just making an observation.
If you are taking him on as a cofounder, you obviously think he is very high-powered and will do lots of amazing things. Therefore, being a non-bankrupt non-scumbag, you don't particularly try to screw him on the terms of the deal.