When picking co-founders, it's important to know:
"Are you the co-founder who has clarity around the vision or are you the co-founder that's gonna build it?"
Failure mode: Both think they're in charge of vision, & then they constantly butt heads over what direction to go in.
"Are you the co-founder who has clarity around the vision or are you the co-founder that's gonna build it?"
Failure mode: Both think they're in charge of vision, & then they constantly butt heads over what direction to go in.
Another common co-founder failure mode: Different values.
One co-founder wants to make $100m from their startup, & another wants to be manage an Y person org.
Sometimes you can reconcile different goals, you just have to ensure they're not incompatible w/ each other long-term.
One co-founder wants to make $100m from their startup, & another wants to be manage an Y person org.
Sometimes you can reconcile different goals, you just have to ensure they're not incompatible w/ each other long-term.
If you both want to be the hero, for example, that's always going to cause issues because you're both going to want to talk to the press, run the board meetings, stuff like that.
A downside to starting a co w/ a friend: you might be less willing to have the harder convos out of fear for the friendship
And then 6 months later, after you've blown up from all the built up resentment, you'll be in a room together wondering how you let it get so out of hand
And then 6 months later, after you've blown up from all the built up resentment, you'll be in a room together wondering how you let it get so out of hand
