Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
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Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
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Re: Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
#2This is partly a rebuttal to the thread http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=77246 which basically says never to have a co-founder!
Re: Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
#3Remember: you need vision alignment, a co-founder who watches your back and who you completely trust.
And even if you do trust them completely, make sure you have legal documents in place which protect your interests. Just because you completely trust them today doesn't mean that they won't wake up one day several years down the road and decide to screw you. Trust me on this...
Re: Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
#4"When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary." William Wrigley Jr.
I think you need to distinguish between values conflicts, where you should have very high agreement, and disagreements over strategies or tactics to implement or sell your product.
If your co-founder can't make suggestions to improve what you are working on at least half the time I don't think you have a lot of synergy.
Michael Schrage studied a number of collaborative teams for his books "Shared Minds" and "Serious Play." He concluded that it was a shared focus on a problem that was larger than they could solve individually that encouraged collaboration. That does not mean that team members agree most of the time.
Re: Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
#5Remember: you need vision alignment, a co-founder who watches your back and who you completely trust. And even if you do trust them completely, make sure you have legal documents in place which protect your interests. Just because you completely trust them today doesn't mean that they won't wake up one day several years down the road and decide to screw you. Trust me on this...
> Trust me on this...
It sounds like there's a story behind this advice. Care to share?
Re: Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
#6"When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary." William Wrigley Jr. I think you need to distinguish between values conflicts, where you should have very high agreement, and disagreements over strategies or tactics to implement or sell your product. If your co-founder can't make suggestions to improve what you are working on at least half the time I don't think you have a lot of synergy. Michael S…
I think co-founders are most useful when you have a similar vision but bring different expertise to the issue. I agree with what you are saying though, that you should have similar values and vision, but then want to discuss the implementation from different perspectives. It's kind of like having a mini focus group or think tank. Those different understandings of the issue are important to come to the BEST implementation and to avoid groupthink.
Re: Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
#7This article doesn't really answer the question "Do I Need a Co-Founder." More accurately, it answered "Should This Person Be My Co-Founder?"
Re: Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
#8This article doesn't really answer the question "Do I Need a Co-Founder." More accurately, it answered "Should This Person Be My Co-Founder?"
I guess the full algorithm is:
while(potential cofounders available) {
evaluate using 90/50 rule
}
Re: Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
#9Remember: you need vision alignment, a co-founder who watches your back and who you completely trust. And even if you do trust them completely, make sure you have legal documents in place which protect your interests. Just because you completely trust them today doesn't mean that they won't wake up one day several years down the road and decide to screw you. Trust me on this...
True. On the other hand, you can't be completely paranoid. You have to make progress and move forward. But yes, protect yourself.