Yes, Gill has played a huge role in running our earlier businesses. She has also supported me hugely during the running of Treehouse. But I've shouldered the weight of making all of the big decisions at Treehouse. The buck still stops with me.
I wrote this post not as a "anyone can do what I did" post but rather a counter point to the rhetoric that is coming out of The Valley.
It's important for new Founders to hear both sides of the argument.
But hopefully people also realize that the existence of a co-founder doesn't mean that there is no clear leadership. YourMechanic would not be feasible without my incredibly talented co-founder, but the buck still stops with me. I talk to my co-founder & team about big decisions, but I make and take responsibility for all the decisions.
Having run different businesses for 5 years as a single co-founder, I have found that there is something magical about having the 'right partner' (in my case, brilliant + 100% dependable).