Here's the situation: I have an extra room at my home. A developer I have been working with overseas is now excited about the idea, and is willing to fly here and live in the extra room to accelerate the project. We're doing ok in our current working relationship - he's consulting to pay his bills -- my stuff is 2nd or 3rd priority -- things are getting done but slowly. He knows about my boyfriend, and my boyfriend knows him. So, here's the question: is living with cofounders a good idea or not? One friend says, do it - it would accelerate the project. Another friend says don't - it would make things personal and make it difficult to make business decisions. I'd like to hear about others'opinions on this - thanks.
Founders: live with cofounders or not?
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Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#2I would vote for 'no'; you will spend so much time around each other, with no way to really separate your own spaces, that it will make you sick and reclusive. If anything goes south, you then have more than just a business that dies -- you have to deal with tenants, and there's likely additional legal ramifications as well.
Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#3It depends. A few months ago, my current room-mate had an idea for a startup. We decided to move in together as it would be easier to brainstorm ideas, code, and plan what we needed to do. Both of us have full-time day-jobs and we work on week-nights and week-ends on our idea.
We have been pretty good so far in seperating work from our personal activities. We both make sacrifices to move our project forward. At the same time however, we don't interfere with each other's personal issues and activities. It takes some time to have a good arrangement and the best thing to do would be to communicate your expectations to the developer, and also listen to what he wants in terms of a working relationships. Lastly, I would recommend doing social things together with your developer. For example, you could have dinners with your developer and boyfriend. Such activities strengthen the working relationship and inspire everyone to continue working on the project.
Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#4I would vote for 'no'; you will spend so much time around each other, with no way to really separate your own spaces, that it will make you sick and reclusive. If anything goes south, you then have more than just a business that dies -- you have to deal with tenants, and there's likely additional legal ramifications as well.
I would also say "no" for similar reasons. Your project is not his first priority and I doubt that will change once he moves into your apartment. I think that having cofounders living together is great if you guys are a couple or have been best friends since elementary school. Otherwise though, I can only see problems from this arrangement.
If he wants to move to your city then let him, than you can have weekly meetings at starbucks or something. But I'd not recommend living with a random developer that is your cofounder just because you have an extra room. Again, I can only see problems arising from this (both professional and personal).
I'd be curious to hear what you decide to do. Let us know.
Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#5It depends. A few months ago, my current room-mate had an idea for a startup. We decided to move in together as it would be easier to brainstorm ideas, code, and plan what we needed to do. Both of us have full-time day-jobs and we work on week-nights and week-ends on our idea. We have been pretty good so far in seperating work from our personal activities. We both make sacrifices to move our project forward. At the s…
If she was good friends with the developer then I would agree with you, but from what I could tell from her post, the developer is not a friend but someone she probably met and hired online. In that case, I would definitely say no to moving in together.
Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#6I've been there and it worked great. That was for same gender and while single though.
So, depends. No pressure either way.
Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#7It depends. A few months ago, my current room-mate had an idea for a startup. We decided to move in together as it would be easier to brainstorm ideas, code, and plan what we needed to do. Both of us have full-time day-jobs and we work on week-nights and week-ends on our idea. We have been pretty good so far in seperating work from our personal activities. We both make sacrifices to move our project forward. At the s…
If she was good friends with the developer then I would agree with you, but from what I could tell from her post, the developer is not a friend but someone she probably met and hired online. In that case, I would definitely say no to moving in together.
I hope I won't be misunderstood, but I wouldn't be so sure to call the poster a "she". There is nothing in the post that guarantees that the poster is female. Is there?
Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#8Ultimately, how much are you willing to sacrifice for the project? That includes sanity ;) Shared living can make things difficult, but if it's needed to give your project the extra boost it needs, it may make sense to try. At least living in the same city so you can meet regularly really helps, since there's nothing like face to face sometimes for quick idea exchange.
Ground rules, respect for each others' privacy, and talking all that out up front seems to be the best approach if you're going to room together, so you're not making assumptions about who will do what and when. My current roommates are the messiest I've ever lived with, and since I work from home that makes it a really hard work environment. They have to be told to do even the most basic things or they won't do them. Fortunately, I'm moving June 1st.
I was actually talking with my business partner about becoming roommates, but we're still on the fence about it. The place has to afford enough privacy and space separation that our respective messiness won't drive the other one crazy...
So I couldn't give a definite yes or no, but do exercise caution and plan accordingly :)
Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#9The most important thing is to be in the same room during the day when you're working on your company. Ideally, you would live in separate residences but meet in your house during the workday. But if living together is the only way to make it happen, you should do it.
Re: Founders: live with cofounders or not?
#10The first 6 months of my startup the 3 founders lived together , and worked from the same (large) apartment. I would say that was a keystone in us being able to put in the 24/7 focus/communication/time necessary to get it off the ground.