They say choosing your partner is the most important decision you will make in life. I’d say choosing your co-founder(s) is the most important decision you will make in building your company. Here are five tips to help you choose wisely:
Demand Passion
Starting a company is lonely, thankless and costly. It will test the deepest fibers of your being. The only thing that melts these obstacles away, leaves you raring for more, is passion. You can’t fake passion. It lights up your eyes and charges your voice when you talk about what you love. If you have a great idea, and you want to bring it to life, find someone who is passionate about your vision.
Trust
You either have it or you don’t. When the dark clouds come - and they will - you find out really quickly if you trust someone. When your mortgage is on the line, you better have trust. Mistrust is a cancer in relationships; it breeds sleepless nights and suspicion. The good news is you can avoid it by choosing a founder you trust, then work to foster deeper trust in your relationship over time. Keep in mind that it’s a never ending process.
More than Money
There’s more to life than money, and chances are money is a long way off if you are building a company. So again, find someone with passion as they are sure to be in it for more than the money.
Choose your Compliment
Like a partner, a co-founder should be strong in areas you are not. A great compliment to your skills is someone who loves to do things you hate, someone who makes the sum of your parts greater than the whole.
Give them Equity
This may seem like a no-brainer when founding a company, but I meet people who expect others to care as much as them about the business when they don’t own any of it. If you believe they will if they don’t own a piece of the business you are seriously deluded.
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2:15 pm
[...] Re-posted from FreshThinking: 5 tips for choosing a co-founder [...]
4:05 pm
Wow - that really hits the spot! I can completely relate to these points and will keep these on-file for any futuir co-founder business relationships.
4:12 pm
I think trust and equity go hand in hand - it demonstrates that you’re trusting in giving them a piece of the company, but it also demonstrates how serious their role as a co-founder is.
If were to add one, I’d say chemistry is really important - you’re going to spend A LOT of time together so the working dynamic has to be solid.
Great post!
-Dan
4:29 pm
Shouldn’t your theory on equity carry over to employees? I always find it fascinating when my peers complain that the employees they manage don’t show passion for their job… meanwhile these employees are getting paid $15/hr.
I firmly believe that every employee should receive a fair piece of the pie. Google is one of the few large corporations that understands this and unsurprisingly, they’re a tech company.
4:48 pm
Hmmm, I wonder where you got the inspiration to write this post??
The Greek
4:50 pm
mike - this post reminds me of a podcast from the stanford entrepreneurs series given by janice fraser (of adaptive path). she advises that entering in to partnership with people takes all of these things you mention and says the most important is trust. i tend to agree.
thanks for this - and for freshbooks. i am a fan.
6:25 pm
@enrique - *totally*. For the record everyone at FreshBooks has options so they have a stake in the company.
6:49 pm
Good stuff Mike!
7:04 pm
Very good list of important things to consider when building a team for a start-up company.
When we first started building the company, there were 3 people. They were all family members. Then we noticed that one of the family members was not fully “vested”, didn’t chip in for the bills, dragging things out, being unsure about when to take action…didn’t put the mortgage on the line…
We had to have a talk together and demand everyone to have “clarity” and express their vision for the company. In the end, we had to kick that family member off the team. Sounds cold and harsh, but I really couldn’t have anyone on the team that wasn’t as fully vested. It would have been poisonous to the business relationship and the long term personal relationship we have had with each other.
Bottom Line: there needs to be clear expectations of what each founder/partner should be responsible for within the business.
7:19 pm
You probably meant complEment not compLiment
6:35 pm
Probably also worth it to add that friends/family should be carefully considered. Although immediately logical at first as a potential partner, they may not be the best person since you could risk the personal relationship.
You should ask yourself “Can this friendship survive the entrepreneurial rough spots?”. And… “Do I want to risk this personal relationship if things don’t work out?”.
10:43 am
This hits home. I recently let go a friend that was trying to help get my start-up off the ground.
I asked him to come aboard during one of those moments that Mike mentions (dark, lonely, etc.).
In the long run he was not the right fit for my business and its goals.
I have had some investors who also fit this bill.
A successful business colleague told me, a partner is someone you can trust to sit down at your breakfast table in the morning with your kids and never feel uncomfortable.
10:45 am
@steven - I love that breakfast table test - thanks for sharing.
10:53 am
The best way to build trust is to start by having impeccable integrity yourself. Always deliver on what you say, keep your word, and conduct yourself as you would expect your partner to. We can’t forget it is a two way street and expect others to reciprocate if we don’t begin by being trustworthy ourselves.
2:45 pm
Great stuff fresh books. This has been the secret to our success and sanity. Especially having complimentary skill sets.