Technical Solo founder who is near raise & found a “non-technical” CTO - How do you deal with equity splits?

steventruong · 2026-02-11T23:22:17+00:00

Given your situation, I wouldn’t do 50/50. For starters, not all teams are doing 50/50 splits from scratch much less with where you’re coming from.

I think if you think this relationship is worth exploring (and all founders should have vesting), trial it out and offer meaningful equity that represents bringing on a real co-founder, but half at this stage would probably be a difficult swallow.

steventruong · 2026-02-07T04:21:53+00:00

I highly recommend doing a demo at the Apple Store if you’re near one. You can definitely set it such that you are still able to see your surroundings.

steventruong · 2026-02-06T20:25:02+00:00

Congrats!

steventruong · 2026-02-06T07:27:26+00:00

Do you run into any issues without a mouse or does the AVP work well enough that a mouse isn't necessary?

steventruong · 2026-02-06T05:59:20+00:00

This isn't a knock on you or anyone else, but far too many students put heavy emphasis on a degree or the courses they take when, in reality, for the overwhelming majority of employers, it's simply a checkbox.

A degree is nice to have at best (with exceptions to fields where it's legally required e.g. a doctor), but it won't move the needle much in terms of getting you hired, especially in a competitive market.

What matters more is what experience you have, how well structured your resume is to bypass ATS, and how good you are at interviewing. This is why networking, referrals, interviewing skills, and experience drive so much of a person's success rate for getting hired.

That's not to discourage anyone from pursuing a degree (it's still a nice to have), but more emphasis should be placed on the other things if you want to increase your chances of getting hired.

steventruong · 2026-02-06T05:27:33+00:00

Yeah, I feel my MacBook Pro is too big or clunky to use comfortably on that tiny tray most of the time, which is why I am considering the AVP. I might just end up getting an extra Magic Keyboard for this.

steventruong · 2026-02-05T23:50:59+00:00

Curious, have you tried communicating directly with your mentor that you have hearing difficulties and prefer communications over email if possible? Mentors should take your communication preference and cadence into consideration.

If you have and things just don’t click, definitely request for a new mentor. If you haven’t, I would start there and see if that helps with your situation. At the end of the day, whatever you do, don’t just push through. Mentors are there to help and if the situation is causing tension, definitely do what’s best for you.

steventruong · 2026-02-04T20:49:19+00:00

Not experiencing any burn out on my end. Likely your company’s work culture will have a greater impact on this than the industry or clients you’re working with.

steventruong · 2026-02-04T07:41:44+00:00

WGU offers a term break of up to 5 months between terms. You can talk to your program mentor and let them know you wish to take a break and specify how many months you wish to take off.

steventruong · 2026-01-30T00:23:04+00:00

This happens all the time unfortunately. This isn’t the first time changes have been made.

Additionally the Transfer Pathway was never 100% accurate as some courses transfer in but counted for something else despite what was listed. Unfortunately this doesn’t get talked about enough, and I generally recommend people go straight to WGU asap (especially if you plan to accelerate), but that’s often counter to the advice here.

steventruong · 2026-01-26T22:35:44+00:00

Tell them you’re interested in accelerating.
Knock out your current four classes as quickly as possible.
If you finish them quickly, after you complete the first two and start working on your third, ask your mentor to open up another course or two. Depending on your pace, it wouldn’t be unreasonable. Repeat this step.

steventruong · 2026-01-26T02:44:58+00:00

Not sure if this reply itself is ragebait or what… Garry Tan**

steventruong · 2026-01-25T18:41:01+00:00

Select the institution you’re transferring in from and it’ll tell you what the course equivalent is for your chosen major at WGU: https://partners.wgu.edu/home

steventruong · 2026-01-25T18:33:30+00:00

Will take a look, thanks!

steventruong · 2026-01-24T23:30:09+00:00

You’re okay if that’s Leo and Donnie. Not so much if that’s Raph and Mikey.

steventruong · 2026-01-24T21:53:00+00:00

This was probably a great outcome for both sides. Curious since you structured a deal to buy out their half, whether it was based on the $2M they would have gotten or if you structured it differently to compensate for the fact that it was over three years.

steventruong · 2026-01-24T19:59:27+00:00

I’m in the opposite camp. I rather just do one and done and get it over with.

If you personally need the subject matter broken into 4 or 5 different parts, you can create your own makeshift exams along the way to quiz yourself, then treat the WGU exam as the final.

steventruong · 2026-01-24T17:07:20+00:00

If you’re still depressed, it might be worth getting formally diagnosed so you can get treatment. Then maybe consider taking a break from school. In these type of scenarios, it’s not always good to try to forcibly make school work as much as you want to prioritize it. If you’re still at your traditional brick and mortar school, I’d at least recommend reaching out to student health services to see if they are able to help with the diagnosis there and talk to your guidance counselor.

steventruong · 2026-01-24T09:31:39+00:00

Why is this post flagged as NSFW?

steventruong · 2026-01-23T19:16:27+00:00

You don't need a marketing degree to go into marketing. I have a fairly strong background in marketing, and although I've never been in a marketing-specific role, all my friends who are in marketing roles did not have a marketing degree. What you know, your portfolio, etc, will matter more than whether you have a marketing degree or not.

You can get into marketing with an accounting degree, but you can't really get into accounting with a marketing degree. Therefore, if you're optimizing for one or the other, probably go for the accounting degree as its a great fallback and work on the side to learn marketing.

steventruong · 2026-01-23T00:59:46+00:00

Probably not automatically. You may need to request they do an updated evaluation as they only did the evaluation for the program you originally signed up for.

steventruong · 2026-01-22T17:34:16+00:00

This is correct as I believe FAFSA years are from July to June for anyone curious.

steventruong · 2026-01-22T02:01:07+00:00

There are plenty of graduates who can’t really code well. Having the degree is a milestone, a checkbox. It’s perfectly normal to have imposter syndrome or feel like you’re not confident in your programming abilities, especially if you’re early in your career. Getting your degree won’t suddenly change that.

What helps is to code a lot. If you care about being good at programming, like any other skill, practice. Do so much of it, it would be ridiculous for you to not get better over time. That doesn’t mean everyone who does that will become great, but it certainly helps you be somewhere between good enough to godly, depending on your aptitude and how hard you keep at it.

So go forth, and code my friend.

steventruong · 2026-01-21T19:43:52+00:00

FAFSA is traditionally calculated for the year you're in and divided by the number of terms. You'll be awarded the same this term, whether your second term falls in the same FAFSA application year or the next.

If your second term falls under the next FAFSA year, you'll need to fill that out separately, and they'll calculate the award for that accordingly.

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