Article · 8 min read

35% of founders break up. Here's what we've learned.

Icehouse Ventures Free Beginner

A VC opens its own portfolio: 35 of 100 companies had a founder leave, most inside two years, so a split is normal, not a scandal, which is exactly why you should act early instead of stewing. It also names the trap your answer warns against in numbers: a too-short or missing vest leaves a departed founder holding 20 to 30 percent passively, poisoning the cap table for your next raise. Candid on the real cost being time, money, and morale.

  • Founder splits are common (35% of a real portfolio), so treating an early, clean exit as normal beats letting it fester
  • A weak or missing vesting schedule can leave a departed founder with 20 to 30 percent doing nothing, which blocks future fundraising
  • Document the exit path (mediation, board discussion, decision rights) up front, because the real cost of a messy split is time and money, a startup's two scarcest resources
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The question it answers

  1. How do I fire or exit a co-founder without destroying the company?

Read with it

  1. Two working VCs answer the exact question, and they answer it like operators, not lawyers: run the split through a neutral... BetaKit Article · 9 min read Ask an Investor: How do I fire my co-founder? Katherine Hague and Roger Chabra
  2. This is the India-specific mechanics your answer demands. It lays out both routes: a co-founder who resigns (company files Form... ClearTax Article · 10 min read Change in Directors: Appointment, Resignation and Removal ClearTax editorial team
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