The ideal business — partnership.
I remember with great nostalgia the day Fela Durotuye spoke to us in the training room at lagoon court (watermark) on change management. I picked a few notes from that talk. First, an institution is an organization that is set and destined to last long; say a hundred years plus. He likened this to a tree that is planted and takes two generations plus to bear fruits. This is to mean that it’s le kid’s kids who will probably enjoy the labor. Oh well!
Fela went on to share lots more lessons worth sharing but I may not dwell on. One captivating insight whose importance at that time wasn’t really much was the JK1 & 2 co-founder collabo. He in a one page slide showed Larry & Brin, Jobs & Wozniak, Gates & Allen and of course Kyulla & Kinyua. At that time I thought it was mere sycophancy to the hand that feeds you and not to mention, profanity. Like seriously, how do you put the above-mentioned in one page. This of course I’ve been able to self-diagnose as the African chronic condition of despising our very own. Symptoms of this killer disease are manifested every day. I wouldn’t ever blame anyone suffering from it.
Teamwork over sole-work
This dual co-founder argument is what I have come to appreciate as a classic business model. UK & DP — hustler depict this so well in how they coordinate handling powers of the land. I’ve been working with one Njoroge for the last 9 months or so. It’s been quite an experience. One which has been imperative for my appreciation of ‘the essence of a co-founder’.
Today’s world has put more emphasis to the self and less to teamwork and interdependence. In fact, it is now possible to own a limited liability company alone; there you go guys. It is hard for any two people to agree even when they’re on the same side of the argument. Trust me, I have firsthand experience given my argumentative nature. Ego thus becomes the center of all interactions whether constructive or not. Each one has a view which they believe must prevail and ultimately vindicate their thoughts/views on a subject. Overcoming this and other such barriers of disagreements & discord among njoroge and myself is what brought to my remembrance ‘blasphemous’ Fela’s slide. — now ‘bless famous’.
Challenges of co-founding a startup are many. That’s not what inspired my post though so I’ll spare that for another day. I wish to share a few pros which are the reason I’d recommend a co-founder for anyone out there.
- We can act like a 10 man team: This is so awesome. Whenever we send out communication to clients, users, investors or even the press we (notice “We”) loop in departmental heads in the company. Departments; they remain a pipe dream to anyone riding solo in this journey.
We don’t just act like a 10 man team, we deliver results of a 10 man team even with each performing as 3 men. in partner economics 6+6 = 10 - Partner has got your back… almost always: The good book has the best words to say this (Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.) I have attended meetings through njoroge and vice versa. I have nil chills quoting feedback I gathered from a meeting I didn’t attend because; YES. Someone in my department attended. WE were there.
- You can always get a second opinion on stuff. This is so important particularly for a dev/designer/entrepreneur/UX blah. When you carry many hats in a business, you tend to be less savvy in each one of them. Having a second perspective to your own thoughts, decisions & actions is to ensure that extra grade of aptitude of your output.
- The maker — checker effect: We use this to ensure serious decisions go through an extra round of consideration before they are determined. Often even small decisions benefit from this effect. This ensures we take care of extra details that normally would go unnoticed in the daily operations of work. Being that we both own the business ensures authority & personal attention to every aspect of it.
- You don’t have to do it all: As I write this, it’s 1:56 am and I may be asleep up until 9:56 am. I have sent over a pitch deck to the BD department for the second opinion as we will be pitching for a round of funding in the morning. See, I’m up right now the other dept is possible asleep, hours later we switch roles. Nobody has to do everything; just do your part.
- You have inside jokes: As you may or may not be aware, this article is full of inside jokes. As is with siblings, we have our inside jokes, Trevor Noah can’t hack. Repeated & over abused but always getting funnier at each mention.
Though I put emphasis in painting the rosy side of working a co-founder, the more lessons were drawn from the challenges encountered along the way. All in all I do believe that with the right co-founder, you can be able to achieve by far much more success both financially and in life than you can if you go into it alone. The support system & collective growth we have experienced with each encounter is what I think makes it much more worthwhile.
Whether you are inclined to working with a co-founder or not, you are just alright. It is a matter of perspective.
As Ciiku says “Different folks, different strokes”
Shukran,
Nguru