Ask HN: Should i room with a potential co-founder? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Should i room with a potential co-founder?

7 pointsfrsandstone5 comments

So, I have to decide rooming situation for next year at my college in a couple weeks, and I'm not sure whether or not to room with a friend of mine who I may start a company with in the near future. My current roommate is not a technical person, so I won't be co-founding with him, but we get along great. It's also a possibility that I continue rooming with him next year. Will I be missing out on opportunities by not deciding to room with someone that I could start a company with? I see a lot of potential productivity occurring when I live with the person I'm working with because I hear about everyone saying "When you're starting a company, starting the company is your whole life." So what do you think HN, is it a good idea to room with the potential founder, or would I be more productive with the startup if we roomed separately.

If you room with your potential co-founder, you risk the danger of creating an echo chamber ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=echo%20chambe... )

Plus starting a company is enough stress, don't add to it by having the stress of rooming together.

Well, a couple notes:

1. Living together doesn't necessarily increase productivity. If you actually started a company together, one of your homes/rooms would probably become the startup's 'home' anyways.

2. Living with him will quickly tell you how well you'll get along in the long run, something crucial to business. If you find out you don't work/live well together, you can move elsewhere next year.

TL;DR- Go for it, live with him. Worst case you learn that you don't really want to start a company with him.

Think through this carefully:

(As the wise man said,) familiarity breeds contempt.

A lot of familiarity could potentially accelerate the breeding process ;-)

Also, time away from each other's company may provide both of you with opportunities for some fresh ideas.

HTH

Co-founders living together often makes sense economically, but otherwise I would think having the ability to spend some time apart would be good - occasionally/regularly/as needed.

Go for it!

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