You founded the company,doesnt matter how bad you are at coding there is more to running a company than coding skills.
I'd fire the CTO,no matter how good he is,you're the boss,he is merely an adviser,he shouldnt be talking to you like that. What matters in business is loyalty, not skills.You'll learn it soon enough.
And what matters even more than loyalty, in this kind of game?
Contracts.
If this is getting ugly, and the company has a product/service that could take off and be worth serious money, your only friend is your lawyer, and your primary assets should words with some signatures underneath.
And if, heaven forbid, we're talking about a cofounder who doesn't have a rock solid contract, the time to fix that is right now, with the help of that lawyer, while leaving immediately still appears to be a significant threat to the business.
Another poster said exactly the right thing. Contracts, agreements, documentation, MOU, etc are the things that matter.
Case in point: I am leaving company after being acquired. It's a mutual decision so both sides are happy, but we are negotiating an agreement right now to release me so I am free to pursue concepts (repeat: concepts not IP) that I pitched the CEO 2 years ago. They are only ideas but it still needs to be in writing since I don't want them coming back some years down the line. It's all about contracts.
I'd fire the CTO,no matter how good he is,you're the boss,he is merely an adviser,he shouldnt be talking to you like that. What matters in business is loyalty, not skills.You'll learn it soon enough.