Cars are expensive. Roads, charging infrastructure, gas stations, traffic enforcement, and parking all cost monstrous amounts of money. Registration fees don't even cover the cost of road maintenance much less everything else.
I am not aware of any geographical constraints you might have but from what little I have seen, try picking up a good school either in Germany or Switzerland for your undergrad. Get a masters fellowship such as Erasmusmundus or DaaD, then move to Berkeley/Stanford for PhD…
As others have already mentioned, the post is a bit vague on details. However, what is your role? Are you the CEO or the CTO? Why is your cofounder able to steer the company? Higher stakes? Your silence? Extrovert/introvert issues? Did you happen to detail your cofounder why their chosen path is not good for the company? Do you have a structure in place to resolve cofounder conflicts? Do you still have your heart at that place? How do you know you are not mistaken/your cofounder is heading in a wrong direction?
Is there an implicit assumption that secretary suitability is fixed and the secretary or you do not change or evolve? What if having a few worse secretaries early on gets you in a much better shape? How are these dynamics accounted for?
It was more like the prep time, either get some savings or fork out some time. Time lines are not that deep to be honest. But if there are ways to improve it, please let me know. I would be glad to incorporate the suggestions/insights.
You seem to be considering the funding process from a particular founder perspective. There are lots of different types of founders. Some have the finances to support themselves and don't need prep time.
