I know for a fact that if our CTO took a month off of work we would probably go out of business
Well, reality is that your CTO could get hit by a car, get sick, or not be able to work for a month for all kinds of reasons unrelated to childbirth, so that seems like a problem in general. At least when it comes to children, you have many months of warning.
Or, have you considered what would happen if your CTO said "actually, my family is more important to me than the company"? If the company fails without them, they are in a pretty strong negotiating position.
Your point is exactly why I stated for pregnancy situations - emergencies and "acts of god" can't really be planned for outside of having some kind of contingency fund/plan.
If the company fails without them, they are in a pretty strong negotiating position.
As are all the founders in a startup, that's not really saying much.
Well, reality is that your CTO could get hit by a car, get sick, or not be able to work for a month for all kinds of reasons unrelated to childbirth, so that seems like a problem in general. At least when it comes to children, you have many months of warning.
Or, have you considered what would happen if your CTO said "actually, my family is more important to me than the company"? If the company fails without them, they are in a pretty strong negotiating position.