Fantastic Co-Founders and Where to Find Them
55% out of 7400 successful startups (more than $10m in funding) listed on Crunchbase have two or more founders. So while not mandatory, having a co-founder is definitely worth considering. Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, mentions that having a single founder is one of the main mistakes startups make.
“What’s wrong with having one founder? To start with, it’s a vote of no confidence. It probably means the founder couldn’t talk any of his friends into starting the company with him. That’s pretty alarming, because his friends are the ones who know him best.
But even if the founder’s friends were all wrong and the company is a good bet, he’s still at a disadvantage. Starting a startup is too hard for one person. Even if you could do all the work yourself, you need colleagues to brainstorm with, to talk you out of stupid decisions, and to cheer you up when things go wrong.
The last one might be the most important. The low points in a startup are so low that few could bear them alone. When you have multiple founders, esprit de corps binds them together in a way that seems to violate conservation laws. Each thinks “I can’t let my friends down.” This is one of the most powerful forces in human nature, and it’s missing when there’s just one founder.”
— Paul Graham, Co-founder of Y Combinator
Finding your co-founder is a lot like dating. You’re looking for someone like-minded, with similar goals and approaches, who you can get along with in difficult times to build a long lasting business. So it’s only natural that searching for that perfect candidate can be a long and exhausting process. But what traits make a co-founder worth having, more exactly? And where should you look for such a co-founder?
Ideally, once you find your best fit, you’ll keep trying new startups together even if the first one fails. We’ll first analyze how, and then where to find your most suited partner.
What makes a good co-founder?
“The ideal founding team is two individuals, with a history of working together, of similar age and financial standing, with mutual respect. One is good at building products and the other is good at selling them.”
— Naval Ravikant, Co-founder of Angelist
Complementary skills
Working with a clone of yourself brings no additional value when it comes to decision making, and your core weaknesses will remain the same. It’s easier to connect with someone who has a similar skillset and background, but working with someone who complements you instead greatly increases your chances of success.
- If you’re a programmer, he/she should be a marketer.
- If you’re good at selling, he/she should be good at making.
- If you’re an introvert, he/she should be an extrovert.
One popular approach for choosing co-founders is “one builds, one sells”.
Shared passion
“If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.”
- Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook
An ideal co-founder recognizes your drive, mission and passion, and shares it. True motivations are revealed, not declared. Your partner will keep working hard in spite of hurdles, hardships and failures, if he/she is driven by the desire to create a quality product. And seeing your co-founder’s passion daily will also motivate you on your mission.
“You need a team that’s going to care about this thing as much as you do.”
- Scott Heiferman, Co-founder of Meetup.com
T-shaped backgrounds
You are likely to pivot. A lot. In fact, 73% of start-ups must pivot to another market over time as their initial market did not provide the fertile ground for the product or service that the founders had hoped for.
So your partner should also be able to pivot, if you’re planning long term. Your startup will face some challenges you can’t possibly predict early, and being adaptable is sometimes critical.
Disagree early
Like in every serious relationship, disagreement will happen, sooner or later. In fact, 62% percent of all startups fail due to co-founder conflict. And you should always test the waters. You don’t want to see your startup disbanded later on due to issues which could have been solved.
- Can you both come to a compromise when your approaches differ?
- Can your tech co-founder develop a feature he doesn’t agree with?
- Can your partner handle failure and how likely is he to keep trying after?
“Startups require a flexible, creative, open-minded team. A company that succeeds without pivoting multiple times is the exception that proves the rule. When looking for a co-founder, pay very close attention to how he [or she] handles conflict. Disagreements are necessary. You have to create an environment where experimentation is encouraged and failure isn’t necessarily looked down upon. Conflict is an opportunity.”
— Mitch Gordon, Co-founder of Go Overseas
Emotional support
It’s often disregarded as a non serious issue. But data shows entrepreneurs are more likely to be depressed. And rightfully so, startups are tough. There’s tons of challenges and educational failures which are waiting ahead. Sometimes, you can do everything right, and still fail.
Having a therapist as a co-founder is unrealistic. But working 10 hours a day with a friend offers more emotional support than a weekly therapist visit ever could. And forming a great team leads into an even greater friendship.
Being good friends before starting your business can greatly help, but is not mandatory. Sometimes it might become hard to abandon a bad team/idea if your best friend is part of it.
“Bad sh*t is coming. It always is in a startup. The odds of getting from launch to liquidity without some kind of disaster happening are one in a thousand. So don’t get demoralized.”
— Paul Graham, Co-founder of Y Combinator
Where can you find her/him?
Your desired business partner can come from anywhere. So the obvious approach is to look everywhere. The one you’re looking for is probably doing the same. He/she might be even reading this blog too, right now. The only thing keeping you from doing business together might be you not searching hard enough. Remember that guy that gave up? Neither does anybody else.
And always keep looking. You wouldn’t settle for marrying someone who wasn’t “the one”, would you? Don’t settle when choosing your co-founder, either.
Local networking events
They are a great. But which events to attend is dictated by what you’re looking for in a business partner. So you must first define your co-founder’s profile, before actively searching for him. Looking for a tech co-founder? Attend some tech talks or even hackathons.
Startup accelerators
Some accelerators like to attract great entrepreneurs and pair them in teams of 2. You‘re given few weeks to meet and test the waters with as many potential co-founders as possible. It feels like speed dating, but instead of eating out, you’re brainstorming together your business plan.
Founder matching websites
There’s many online platforms designed for business networking. Either by connecting entrepreneurs, mentoring or just talking groups, these platforms help you stay productive in an otherwise wasted time, like waiting for the subway.
In conclusion
Finding your best co-founder can feel overwhelming, but so does founding a great company all by yourself. Both paths are fine, depending on what type of person you are and as long as you keep grinding.
“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right”
— Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company
I’m Andrei Lupascu
I’m a software engineer and CTO at Flowpoint.ai.
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +427,678 people.
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