Just in the process of firing my co-founder who only works 2 days a week, 9 to 5 and then goes off on holidays on weekends. In my experience. having a co-founder narrative is over-rated and there merely to provide cushioning to the effing investors, unless the co-founder operates at the same bandwidth as you.
3 года назад
Spot ON! What did you have in place in terms of docs prepped to make this decision an easy one? Particularly on shares/equity-related part?
The investors insist on a founder-cofounder template to make divide and rule easier, quite simply. Most startup die of co-founders dispute, but that's risk the investor take anyway
Finding the right co-founder is very difficult. You need someone trustworthy, passionate as you are about the project, have a compatible character and conflict resolution (like a marriage), hardworker and willing to learn new skills and aligned in vision on the major issues. In fact I would argue you’re more likely to fill the skill gap either by learning by yourself or hiring/contract for specific things if you have a well laid out plan.
For those without easy access to a business partner, I would ignore the "you need a co-founder" narrative and just build the product yourself. If you can gain traction, passionate team members will most likely find you.
I’ve gone as far as I can and need help to continue. My business idea is not ordinary or the usual. And figuring out how to proceed is draining momentum. I have zero tech ability; this is not an excuse rather a reality. So maybe we can connect and see if you are interested.
Very informative class on finding a co-founder! Hope to see more videos from Y Combinator and Harj. All the best for everyone starting out their startups and finding their cofounders!
Great suggestion on when to look for co-founder is not at the time you need to find one, do some projects with them to get a taste of what kind of people you like or your energy aligned with them to work together.
I had 2 co-founders that didn't do anything at all, and until i decided there is no point to expect anything anymore from them and to go on by myself it took a while. So i think it is really important that the people you partner up with are reliable.
Same situation Alex. I build a platform and mobile app it took me almost 2 months of sleep less nights. After completing I asked co-founder Have you made marketing plan..he said noo.. For two moths he lying and wasting time and boostraped amount..
coming here after having to fire my cto/ co-founder (and friend) and having the company buying back the equity. it was the suckiest decision but also the right one, as 4, 5, 6 follow ups didn't result in.. well, results. send good vibes for me to learn best practices and find my next person! 🙏
This one is thought provoking. I need to comb through all the people I have respected over the years and see what happens. I’ve tried to get started with just a team of volunteers…and let’s just say that I haven’t gotten very far. But I have learnt a lot!
This was my experience last year... Start over.. do it alone till you've built the basics.. then as you are marketing your business.. look out for supporters, partners, etc
We have a small team and the energy dynamic between myself and the other 3 is way off. I feel like they’re waiting for someone to help give them direction while I’m out pounding the pavement daily. The business is tough but getting them in gear is excruciating 😖
HAHAHA Just applied solo two hours ago. Whoops. At least I'm technical and have confidence in my idea. Still though not liking my odds if they rejected dropbox.
Did you get rejected or did you get an interview request? I'm a solo founder and I got rejected, but it was probably more about my idea rather than me being a single-founder
I've heard more than one YC founder talk about splitting equity equally. It's fraught with all kinds of perils. Maybe you want If...Then clauses to handle situations that may come up. Where a co-founder isn't able to meet the commitments you thought they would meet.
Never ever ever think you need a co-founder cause someone is doing a ridiculous single dimension pattern matching to decide if they'll invest in your company or not. Rarely you get bad advise from YC and this is one of those rare cases. IMO, you have a chance to become successful without a co-founder but good luck making any progress with a bad co-founder.
This advice is about their success, not yours. If you are by yourself they have less chance of getting their outcomes, but if you do nothing and wait to find another person then you have zero chance of achieving it
7:11 Loved that question, how do they handle streess, and how they help me handle it, wow, as a psychologist supporting so much this aspect, to commit with a team that is requiered
very important content but almost unlistenable. the sound recording quality is very bad. please try to make sure you are recording this very important content with good enough microphone.
Excellent advice, especially on the reasoning behind the split (CEO vs another pos like CTO). Thinking this way, I can see where the CEO's opinion may carry more weight on business decisions and the CTO on more technical decisions. It may seem obvious to some, however, when you are in the early stages and excited, rational thought can be a challenge to come by.
Thanks for sharing structured info about finding co-founder. I’d just be careful with sharing equity in 50/50 model. In startups, things will change fast and founder maybe in trouble if they legally document ownership as 50/50 and co-founder will deviate from original plan for any reason. I personally have been in such situation, luckily we did not legally documented anything and my co-founder who has had a day job decided to pursue corporate career. I recommend to ready a book “Slicing Pie” by Mike Moyer. Good luck in your journey!
Hi, what way to follow in a case where I want to build an outsourcing company focused on making mobile apps. Which way is the best model for it? I want to find a co-founder who will be focused on sales to us customers.
I have tried several startups ideas with different teams. Definitively you want someone that complement not just your skills, but your work style. I would not consider someone that cannot commit at least 30 hours per week, just from experience hehe.
You know, it is not that easy to fond a co-founder. It painfully hard to see or even convince your best Friends, brothers or whatever to join you in a project. Most prefer to work for big companies. It bleeds my heart to constantly be politely rejected by closed people. In this case, my experience is that you better start alone, learning technical skills yourself if required. May be someone will join you in the way.
Thank you for this video! I did just start a company by myself, and I do move things forward, I get some parts sub-contracted, I have friends who can advise me on technical aspects when needed, and with that soft-network I have enough to move things forward. My problem that I want a partner for is the Really complex technical problems, for which I would need a technical super-star. The problem I have with finding someone complementary, is that I haven't worked in intense situations carrying complimentary skills, and who also are extremely stress tolerant. How does one solve this problem of knowing someone very well, but still have them having complementary skills and experiences?
@@letmesummarize1176 I haven't found a co-founder. For now I work with people as subcontractors, which means I have to pay them of course, while I also learn the skills necessary to do as much as I can myself. Some agree to half their payment if they get some equity in return, but then I only give very little equity since they also get payed, but I hope that that can turn into a long term relationship. Otherwise I don't see how to solve that problem. I develop what I can, and get to know more and more people and users. Most important for me is not to "wait" on someone, but finding ways to move forward anyways.
@@andreasv9472 Yes I decided to go the same path and in the meantime try to find great people to hire for long term. As long as we keep striving solutions will come up!
Sadly the sound quality is very bad, microphone sounds like cheap chinese products, please get a better 🎤 next time, it sad your valuable advice is not clear
@@jabezborja its good thing to let them know so next time they will do better, i wasn't able to continue the video i stopped after 7 minutes i would love to listen to it, but sound is very bad
What a marvelous video and I really adored the ideas shared, but the audio was just horrific. I got my ears cleaned in hopes of processing the soundwaves slightly better but to no avail. I tried turning up the volume on my headset, but the audio was still incomprehensible on some occasions. I bought a new set of speakers just to see if I could savour the juicy words leaving his lips, but still to no avail. I am disheartened that the talent, and wisdom, of such a wise young man, has been dwindled down into almost nothingness; not due to his failure but rather due to the failure in the technology used. If only this man had used the included headset in his phone's box, or maybe even used his phone as a microphone, would this failure have been avoided. I leave this video with my head low and my spirit crushed. Till we meet again, young YC Partner Harj Taggar. Till we meet again.
Great advice. I only wish I had heard this 20 years ago! A good book for folks getting into the start-up world is the "The Founder's Dilemma" by Wasserman. It is eerily accurate.
i need to ask a question, what if my cofounder is very rich but the idea is mine and i have been working on the company a little longer, how do we perform equity?
Can you elaborate on this a little bit more? You said that you get the same answer from your employees at a lower cost and pass them a bonus so do you just go to them with your co-founder like questions?
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