It looks like you have real equity in the company and there is possible traction in the business.
You are a co-founder. That counts for a lot. I am also assuming that your equity stake is significant.
First of all, deal with this right now. Don't wait for the 3-6 months. You are basically being told that once they have raised money, they will find a way to get you out. Right now, it's a fishing expedition between the CTO and the other founder. Will you be a nice gentle person and go along with their approach or are you going to turn into an attack dog.
You likely have tremendous leverage right now due to this funding round coming up. They will not want to rock the boat. But this is exactly when you should be doing it as I don't believe the "we need you" bit means anything other than "we don't want you to fk up our funding round coming up".
At the end of the day, if they really want you out, they'll find a way to do so. The main thing is that you got to get on the offensive and make sure if you do end up leaving the company, you've left on the best financial terms possible for yourself. Make them pay. In fact, throw out a number you are comfortable with and have them pay you out from that in the next funding round.
If you approach this as "what's best for the company", you have already lost because that's not what this CTO and your other founder are approaching this from.
EDIT: You should provide some more detail on the equity position you have and how formalized it is (ie. proper contracts). Being a co-founder isn't about just writing code. As others have said, if you have significant equity, you have a lot of power. Don't underestimate this.
That's a good point: They don't want to you to leave now, so leverage that. But this situation is not fixable by staying at the company. Recognize the CTO and CEO want you leave when it's convenient for them, and that's it's probably a personal issue, they probably don't like,working with you or else they would've suggested some other role for you. So find a way to leave now with your equity intact, with the help of a lawyer.
It also might depend if they were smart and have a vesting schedule for everyone. But that also means pushing people out may be selfishly advantageous in the short term, so it really matters to have known your cofounders long before the current venture.
You are a co-founder. That counts for a lot. I am also assuming that your equity stake is significant.
First of all, deal with this right now. Don't wait for the 3-6 months. You are basically being told that once they have raised money, they will find a way to get you out. Right now, it's a fishing expedition between the CTO and the other founder. Will you be a nice gentle person and go along with their approach or are you going to turn into an attack dog.
You likely have tremendous leverage right now due to this funding round coming up. They will not want to rock the boat. But this is exactly when you should be doing it as I don't believe the "we need you" bit means anything other than "we don't want you to fk up our funding round coming up".
At the end of the day, if they really want you out, they'll find a way to do so. The main thing is that you got to get on the offensive and make sure if you do end up leaving the company, you've left on the best financial terms possible for yourself. Make them pay. In fact, throw out a number you are comfortable with and have them pay you out from that in the next funding round.
If you approach this as "what's best for the company", you have already lost because that's not what this CTO and your other founder are approaching this from.
EDIT: You should provide some more detail on the equity position you have and how formalized it is (ie. proper contracts). Being a co-founder isn't about just writing code. As others have said, if you have significant equity, you have a lot of power. Don't underestimate this.