Why You Need a Co-Founder | Hacker News Reader

Why You Need a Co-Founder

bigbangtechnology.com

26 pointsmaxcameron14 comments

As a guy who very recently split-up with his cofounder, I can say that having a cofounder is awesome and much better than going it alone, but if they aren't also a partner and willing to pick up your slack when real life crap is going on next to the startup crap ... it isn't going to work out.

Also a word of advice: When crap starts going on, on either end, the proper solution isn't to stop talking to each other for a few weeks.

Totally appreciate your take on the subject. Yeah, two weeks would constitute a major breakdown of communication. Do you think it's possible to have contingency plans in place for actual situations like that?

The best contingency plan is to have at least 3 co-founders. This can be an asymmetrical relationship at times. But I think you'll find a lot of successful companies usually quickly added a 3rd person to the mix early on. It's a matter of semantics whether you want to call them co-founders or not. The point is that they're in there early on before the major successes of the company which they help contribute to.

Whether finding a co-founder is appropriate or not is completely dependent on your goals. For a relationship to work out between two or more people -- especially one as stressful and challenging as starting a business -- everybody involved has to be equally committed to the goals set in the beginning.

OK, so let's say that the only goal you set in the beginning is, "churn out social 2.0 web app, sell to megacorp inc., make lots of money". Yeah, you can probably find one or two other people that are willing to commit to that for a year or two.

But, let's say instead that your only goal is, "build a high-quality service in some niche, fill a customer need, money and popularity be damned". Are you as likely to find someone else willing to fully commit themselves to such a project? I doubt it.

For "crusaders" -- people who are willing to sacrifice a lot in order to change some aspect of the world they're in -- you're probably never going to meet anyone that will be as committed to your goal as you are. Holding yourself hostage to a co-founder search will just kill your project.

For everyone else: spend some effort on putting together "the team" -- the smallest possible group of people that can handle all of the roles of sales, engineering, direction, management, finance, etc. etc. -- apply to YC, build your thing, get money, cash out, have a great life.

To that end, I think startup speed dating is a pretty great idea.

I think Steve says it best:

> My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other's negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are not done by one person, they are done by a team of people.

I think this applies to co-founders too.

Startup speed dating is a cool idea in my opinion. The single hardest thing I've ever done is trying to find a co-founder. Two years in I'm still looking for that partner. Anything to help alleviate that pain point would be tremendous.

Flying solo is convenient at times because you don't have interpersonal drama and the risk of a nasty split. But on the whole I would never recommend anyone go solo.

Would you happen to be located in San Jose?

Unfortunately not. Half my problem might be that I'm located in the anemic Midwest. St Louis to be exact. Are virtually connected co-founders very prevalent?

As long as there is a connection, things can happen. Do you have a facebook?

When seeking funding, having a co-founder or team looks much better to an investor than a sole founder. If you take a look at YC, I believe Dropbox is the only (or one of the few) with just one founder. Having more than one demonstrates that there is less risk through complementing abilities and checks/balances. Also, it can get kinda lonely...

Hi,

I'm the author of this article. You should read it if you've been following the debate about whether you're better off with a co-founder or going it alone.

Max

I think we're all better off with the right co-founder, and worse off with a wrong one. Better off != need, though.

So do you think that it's just a personal relationship, or do you think there are actual characteristics you could look for in a co-founder?

I think the startup speed dating is a fantastic idea, especially for those cities outside of the valley where just finding people interested in startups is damn near impossible.

I recently found a good partner after 2 years of going it solo (and searching) and it's made a world of a difference.

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