You Need a Co-Founder For Your Startup.
By: Dominique Rocha
Tags: Business, Startup Lessons, Founder, Startup, Entrepreneurship

Almost every startup is better off with a co-Founder. Mostly the bootstrapped ones. If you have a super cool idea and thought about starting a startup, then you must have already researched the reasons for having a co-Founder. But worry not: If this has slipped your mind, I will give you a summary of some reasons for having one.

Dan Lok, the Asian Dragon Investor advocates that you should bootstrap as long as you could with your friends in a garage. “Eat ramen noodles, that’s ok for a period of time because it teaches you how to be resourceful.”

Lower Risks

With shared responsibility, it is easier to lay your head on your pillow at the end of the day, don’t you think? Two or more people responsible for a startup need to share the gains, but also losses. Chances are that having an accountability partner will enable you to cut most loose ends that could jeopardize your business.

You may be full of energy now, but a company’s variables can drive you crazy. It also means that the venture will not stop progressing due to the unavailability of a single person’s burnout.

Not to mention, having a co-Founder will lower your personal risks as well. Regarding the way you sort things out with your new partner, you can now split the costs and ease stress and potential losses.

Greater Possibility of FFS investments (Friends, Family, and Suckers)

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“Less than 1% of companies are funded by angel investors. Less than 0.5% is funded by venture capital.[…] Most people, they actually start off with just family and friends and loans from the bank” — Dan Lok

This should not be the aim of having a co-Founder, but you cannot deny that it is a bonus. Bootstrapped companies always benefit from having some money coming in from the initial stage…

In this stage, you should not need to prove your idea too much. You don’t know yet what you are doing, and probably do not have an MVP ready to actually show something.

Thought that not knowing how to lower your CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) or to increase the MMR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) will prevent you from getting a good investor or being approved into funds?

Then you are absolutely right. But don’t mind about it just yet. That’s what the last F stands for (or S, as I gently put above). Your family and friends don’t have enough technical knowledge about what you’re doing, so make your idea compelling to them and hope for the best. If they do have technical knowledge, then CALL THEM TO BE YOUR CO-FOUNDER.

Disclaimer: I’m not encouraging you to scheme or lie to anybody. The fact is: you don’t have those answers yet, but still, you need the money to get to know anything.

Moral Support

Starting a business is a task that isolates you from the external world. There is no one to talk to. No one who knows all the obstacles your company’s going through and still supports you. We may start to feel abandoned.

The moral support a partner might give us is different from anything else we could hope for. Firstly, he will have to make your company. I don’t know if you are aware, but a startup often urges you to work way more than the 9–5 business hours. Having somebody to share it will be a big relief.

Studies revealed that there is a bunch of brain damage such as depression and Alzheimer, and poor decision making.

“Lacking encouragement from family or friends, those who are lonely may slide into unhealthy habits. In addition, loneliness has been found to raise levels of stress, impede sleep, and, in turn, harm the body. Loneliness can also augment depression or anxiety.” — Newcastle University epidemiologist Nicole Valtorta, PhD

“What’s wrong with having one founder? To start with, it’s a vote of no confidence. It probably means the founder couldn’t talk any of his friends into starting the company with him. That’s pretty alarming because his friends are the ones who know him best.” — Paul Graham, co-Founder of Y-Combinator

A Unique Set of Skills

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Can you whistle and clap at the same time? Well, I can.

When you hire a co-Founder you are getting twice as much work done without having to invest more money, which is great, but this work needs to be directed to the company’s greatest difficulties.

Remember: You are not spending money yet on a co-Founder, but as soon as your startup starts to bear fruit — as we hope — it will be harvested by more hands. And it is fair. Let’s just make sure to put those hands to good use.

Let’s picture it a lil’bit: You are an excellent administrator and you had a wonderful idea — sounds familiar? — and you are building an app. Ok. Who develops the apps? App developers.

If you already have an FFS investment — you remember that, right? — great, you can hire an app developer, but there are substantial roles that must be filed within your company.

Now you need a good marketer to build your launch strategy. Are you running out of money? Maybe you know a good professional in the field who believes in your idea. See? Now, besides all the significant points put above, you also granted your company someone who will give essential skills to your idea. Double Win.

Investors Like It

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If I haven’t convinced you so far, I think this is the turning point in our brief story.

Investors tend to better accept companies with more than one founder. Perhaps, in addition to all the advantages I mentioned above, a VC should think: “hm … if this guy convinced another human being so skilled to work on his idea, basically for free, it must be a very good one.”

But do not take just my word for that. Y Combinator’s co-Founder, Paul Graham, says in “18 Mistakes That Kill Startups”:

“The low points in a startup are so low that few could bear them alone. When you have multiple founders, esprit de corps binds them together in a way that seems to violate conservation laws. Each thinks “I can’t let my friends down.” This is one of the most powerful forces in human nature, and it’s missing when there’s just one founder.”

Ed Zimmerman, Adjunct Professor VC/Angel at Columbia Business School, is one of the many multiple-founders advocators. He claims to observe everything about the relationship between founders:

“Do they appear to be off message with one another? Do they talk over each other? Do they seem disrespectful or discourteous toward each other? Or, do they seem supportive of each other? I love working with founders where it appears that each has the other’s back.”

If you are interested in a specific post for these topics, leave in the comment section below; the only kind of pressure that works for me.

Now that you know why you need a co-Founder, let’s go shopping!

What to look for in a startup co-Founder

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Looking for a co-Founder shouldn’t be much different than looking for an investor, after all, that person will invest time to execute your idea.

Someone like you

I’ve tried to make as clear as possible the importance of a business partner when starting your startup. One of the things that you should appreciate above all, is your partner to be having the same values ​​as you. He doesn’t have to be a soulmate, but he does need to be the soulmate of your business. If you are creating a health tech, for example, and are interested in doing something that may challenge some religion, it will be difficult to partner up with someone extremely religious.

Write Down all the skills you will prioritize

Yes, just like in a job description for any other position. Some aspects may be desirable and others are prerequisites. You must know exactly what you need from a co-Founder. If you have little or no acuity with numbers, looking for someone with those skills can be a plus. Unless you are creating a Fintech, then dealing with numbers should be paramount.

Different backgrounds.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, looking for someone with skills different from yours is a way to enhance the success of your Startup. Take preference for those who have expertise in areas relevant to your project and who complement your skills.

Extra information

Get to know your co-Founder more. Ask about hobbies, childhood stories, school life. These are not questions you ask in a form, but important information to take into account, since the chemistry between you must be pulsating. It is not easy to work with someone with whom we cannot relate well.

Where to look

My main advice at this point is that you should look into your network of friends. People you already know and trust and can add to your project.

On the Internet

If you don’t know anyone in this medium that fits, you can look for people willing to be co-Founders on the internet. Search through Linkedin groups, Quora responses, Medium authors, and of course, Twitter. Looking for people to relate to professionally shouldn’t be a problem for you. If there’s one thing the Founders I know have in common, it’s that they LOVE to talk about their businesses.

Some specific relationship platforms are also available for this purpose. The best-known examples are YouNoodle, Founder2be, and FounderDating. These platforms serve to connect you with people who already have some background in Tech, with the most varied interests. In addition to finding founders, you will also find experts who can advise or even board your team.

Face-to-face events

Good old face-to-face networking does not usually fail. You can attend technology development events at universities and development hubs. Introduce yourself and talk to other founders and experts in areas related to your business. If you like to participate in events like this, you are likely to find a partner. Maybe even an entire team.

What to watch

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Some founders do not take the CEO position because they are not able to run a company, or because their skills will be better used as CTO — Chief Technology Officer — or CFO — Chief Financial Officer, and there is no problem with that, as long as it has been talked about from the beginning to prevent it from motivating future discussions.

For the same reason, always make a contract with the previous negotiation. Discuss scenarios. Percentages. Papers. Discuss the future. Go out for ice cream together. Seriously, don’t rush the important task of finding a co-Founder for your Startup.

“As the proverb says, men cannot know each other until they have eaten salt together.”

–Aristotle

What important tip did I miss? Don’t forget to leave in the comments how was your process to find a co-Founder ;)

— DR

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