🧭 Pros and Cons of Business Partnerships

Hey Builders! 🚀

Here’s what you’re going to learn today:

⭐️ Why having co-founders is GOOD
⭐️ Why having co-founders is BAD
⭐️ Should YOU have a co-founder?
🎤 Aldo de Jong talks about getting bought out by his co-founder

Reading time: 3 minutes

⭐️ Why having co-founders is GOOD

• You can focus on what you are good at

• You can delegate focus to others for things you suck at

• You can share the cost of launching the business

• You have others to share your stress and fears with

• You have people to bounce ideas off

• You have people to share your successes with

•  They can help out more if you need a few days to de-stress

• They can keep you accountable

Is there anything I’m missing? What do you like about your co-founders?

⭐️ Why having co-founders is BAD

• Your co-founder may not have complementary skills

• They may not put forth the same energy and passion as you

• They may not be able to inject cash into the business

• They may have a different vision, goals, decision-making processes

• They may not want to focus on the tasks you give them

• They may think it’s play-time and not get work done

• You have to share profit with them

• They may try to steal control of the business from you

• They may not be good at communication

• If one wants to sell the business and the other doesn’t…

• If someone thinks they deserve more than the other…

What do you dislike about your co-founder?

⭐️ Should YOU have a co-founder?

Now that you have a better understanding of the reasons why you should and shouldn’t have a co-founder, you need to think about which situation is going to be better for you.

I’ve personally founded companies by myself, as well as others with co-founders, and each situation has been different.

In my first company, IdeaXchange, as a live, offline monthly event with 700 people in attendance, there’s NO WAY I could have pulled it off without a co-founder. I was very lucky that we had complementary skills, where I focused on finding and vetting speakers and managing the event day and the volunteers, my partner focused on government/media/venue management. It worked out super well!

In my second company, Nami, as a consulting firm, I was completely capable of doing the bulk of the operational work by myself, and hired contractors to fill in the gaps. I was very lucky that I had learned how to value the services and build a referral network, so a co-founder wasn’t necessary.

In my third company, Sidekick (which later became Nerv), as we were building a technical product, and I had no technical background, I was completely incapable of pulling it off by myself. I was lucky that my first hire became my CTO, and he helped me learn everything I needed to know about running that kind of product even if it tooks me years to learn. My second high level hire became my COO, and he took control of operations and product so I could focus on fundraising and gaining social traction. Without these two people, the business would have died very quickly.

In my new company, We Live to Build, since we’re doing consulting once again, I find that being a solo founder is quite easy because I’m familiar with it for this type of business, so I’m happy where I’m at.

So from my experience, I first considered what kind of business would it be, and COULD I do it alone.

If the answer was yes, I did it.

If the answer was no, I looked for co-founders or high level hires.

If I knew I needed others, I thought through would they be a good fit personality wise, culturally, and have complementary skill sets that I could trust and learn from.

If the answer was yes, I went for it.

Do you need a co-founder for your next venture?

Next steps

I interviewed Aldo de Jong about his experience getting bought out of his startup by his co-founder, how he’s handled it, and how he moved forward over time.

Watch it below!

Listen to the interview here:

• YouTube

• iTunes

• Spotify

Next Friday we will talk about What investors REALLY want, see you then!