How do you deal with the situation when your partner/co-founder doesn't work as you expected?

Have a candid conversation with them regarding what the goals of the project are, the success factors for those goals, who is responsible for what, and what is needed from all parties to achieve that success.

If an agreement cannot be made, then it sounds like the relationship cannot be successful.

I'd cut it off early. (Source: I've had about 8 cofounders over the last 12 years in various businesses, and there's only 1 who I'm still working with.)

If you've already created IP/tech/customers, hopefully you've got vesting and cliffs[0] in place. (If not, you'll probably need to throw away everything you've built so far in order to get rid of the bad cofounder, which is another reason to do it ASAP.)

It's hard to give more specific advice without knowing more specific details, but people's worldviews and attitude toward work/life balance don't change. I'm not judging either way, but I think you should accept that it's probably going to stay as it is. (I'm further toward the life side of the balance than most people, but I recognise that now and go out of my way to choose cofounders who are similarly aligned).

All that being said, sometimes people are in a temporary life slump, and you just ride it out with them. My cofounder had a baby about 4 months ago, for example, so he's been fairly unavailable for about 6 months, and probably will be for another 6. That's cool, and I'm totally on board with it, so there's no problem there. Later on, I'll be sick or want to sail somewhere disconnected or who knows what, and then he'll shoulder more of the burden.

So I would say to decide whether it's a permanent disconnect, or just a temporary/fixable imbalance. Break up ASAP if it's the former, and work through it optimistically and patiently (but assertively) if it's the latter.

[0] http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/2013/02/equity-basics-vesting-cliffs-acceleration-and-exits/

What exactly is the beef? 🥩 I've learned that partnerships are like a marriage...and you know what happens every time a couple goes to see a marriage counselor? They always tell you that both of you have to get better at communicating.

But in all seriousness, if you want to stay working together...you will need a founders agreement.

No agreement should be without milestone process, quarterly review and corrective action.

I just tell him/her I won't do any new project with him/her anymore directly.