I joined a seed stage startup 2 years ago.
We've made many pivots and have had inconsistent growth.<p>6 months ago, the technical cofounder left, promoting me into the technical lead.<p>We have 6 months of runway left, and I'm considering leaving now.<p>Would it be fair to do so? To leave this project in this final lap feels selfish in one way. In another, I feel that I've given this startup a respectable employee stint.<p>Thoughts?
<i>Do what's best for you.</i><p>The company has no loyalty to you - if they decided tomorrow that you were no longer useful to them, they'd fire you without any hesitation or warning. (I've seen it happen to a lot of people.) Thus, there's no reason to feel that you should have loyalty to the company.<p>People moving on to different jobs happens all the time. They get better offers, their needs change, they burn out, etc. If your company is run rationally, it should be able to deal with people leaving. If not, it's not your problem. As you noted, even a cofounder of your company has left already.
Final lap <i>to where</i>?<p>Is this really going anywhere, or is it just floundering? "We've made many pivots and have had inconsistent growth" sounds like it's just floundering.<p>In six months, are you actually going to have a product that 1) works and 2) people care about? Or in six months, are you going to have made two more pivots and still not gotten any traction?<p>If there's a real future, and you leaving would kill it, that's a very different situation than if they're just going to muddle along trying random directions until they run out of money.
It's fair to leave any time you want. Are you really concerned that 2 years isn't long enough or are you just asking us to tell you to do what you're already going to do?
Would it be fair for them to fire you or anyone else if it was in their best interest?<p>You owe them no loyalty and I can fairly confidently say they have none for you either.<p>Of course I would be happy to be wrong
Leave sooner rather than later. I have regretted not leaving earlier in every situation where the company has not been performing well. There is usually no financial incentive to stick at a failing company, and chances of doing great work are practically nil. Sometimes, you can raise in the chaos and be promoted several times over in a short period, but then you need to be able to parlay that into some sort of lasting career advantage. That's mainly for middle-management types that want to use a good title to get in at a similar level or better in a better company. That also happens relatively infrequently, so you would be taking quite a risky bet.<p>To sum up, "fairness" is a jejune notion. You are not a cofounder (presumably). You are an employee. Employees are fungible, and employers should be the same in a strong employment market.
It's ok for seed stage startups to flail a bit. Even if the tech cofounder left, that can be ok -- if he didn't have the stomach for it, he should go.<p>It's ok to have only 6 months of runway. Startups are always running out of money!<p>Did you get a BUNCH of stock options when you got promoted? If not, nothing else matters, leave right away.<p>If you did get an enormous additional grant, then you are being compensated fairly and you shouldn't base your decision to leave on "6 months of runway left". You've not given any info to assess the quality of this startup, or any useful info on other factors, like general morale, prospects based on the current product direction, strength of team, and so on. The fact you know the runway at all is a decent sign of strength.<p>It's absolutely fair to leave now! But don't leave for the wrong reasons.
I have been in a similar situation and regretted staying too long. I expressed my belief that the pivot was the wrong move, and left. Less than a year later it failed. Nothing I could've done from the tech side would've changed this.<p>Each situation is different, of course.
If you aren't the captain, you're under no obligation to go down with the ship.<p>Get out while the getting's good, because work won't love you back. It <i>can't</i>.
You just slip out the back, Jack<p>Make a new plan, Stan<p>You don't need to be coy, Roy<p>Just get yourself free<p>Hop on the bus, Gus<p>You don't need to discuss much<p>Just drop off the key, Lee<p>And get yourself free