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How We Secretly Lose Control of Our Startups
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Stop Listening to Investors
Was Mortgaging My Life Worth it?
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When Our Ambition is Our Enemy
Are Startups in a "Silent Recession"?
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Michelle Glauser on Diversity and Inclusion
The Utter STUPIDITY of "Risking it All"
Committees Are Where Progress Goes to Die
More Money (Really Means) More Problems
Why Most Founders Don't Get Rich
Investors will be Obsolete
Why is a Founder so Hard to Replace?
We Can't Grow by Saying "No"
Do People Really Want Me to Succeed?
Is the Problem the Player or the Coach?
Will Investors Bail Me Out?
The Value of Actually Getting Paid
Why do Founders Suck at Asking for Help?
Wait a Minute before Giving Away Equity
You Only Think You Work Hard
SMALL is the New Big — Embracing Efficiency in the Age of AI
The 9 Best Growth Agencies for Startups
This is BOOTSTRAPPED — 3 Strategies to Build Your Startup Without Funding
Never Share Your Net Worth
A Steady Hand in the Middle of the Storm
Risk it All vs Steady Paycheck
How About a Startup that Just Makes Money?
How to Recruit a Rockstar Advisor
Why Having Zero Experience is a Huge Asset
My Competitor Got Funded — Am I Screwed?
The Hidden Treasure of Failed Startups
If It Makes Money, It Makes Sense
Why do VCs Keep Giving Failed Founders Money?
$10K Per Month isn't Just Revenue — It's Life Support
The Ridiculous Spectrum of Investor Feedback
Startup CEOs Aren't Really CEOs
Series A, B, C, D, and E Funding: How It Works
Best Pitch Decks Ever: The Most Successful Fundraising Pitches You Need to Know
When to Raise Funds
Why Aren't Investors Responding to Me?
Should I Regret Not Raising Capital?
Unemployment Cases — Why I LOOOOOVE To Win Them So Much.
How Much to Pay Yourself
Heat-Seeking Missile: WePay’s Journey to Product-Market Fit — Interview with Rich Aberman, Co-Founder of Wepay
The R&D technique for startups: Rip off & Duplicate
Why Some Startups Win.
Chapter #1: First Steps To Validate Your Business Idea
Product Users, Not Ideas, Will Determine Your Startup’s Fate
Drop Your Free Tier
Your Advisors Are Probably Wrong
Growth Isn't Always Good
How to Shut Down Gracefully
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Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?
How to Pick the Wrong Co-Founder
Staying Small While Going Big
Investors are NOT on Our Side of the Table
Who am I Really Competing Against?
Why Can't Founders Replace Themselves?
Actually, We Have Plenty of Time
Quitting vs Letting Go
How Startups Actually Get Bought
What if I'm Building the Wrong Product?
Are Founders Driven by Fear or Greed?
Why I'm Either Working or Feeling Guilty
Startup Financial Assumptions
Why Every Kid Should be a Startup Founder
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If a Startup Sinks, Founders Go Down With it
Founder Success: We Need a Strict Definition of Personal Success
Is Quiet Quitting a Problem at Startup Companies?
Founder Exits are Hard Work and Good Fortune, Not "Good Luck"
Finalizing Startup Projections
All Founders are Beloved In Good Times
Our Startup Culture of Entitlement
The Bullshit Case for Raising Capital
How do We Manage Our Founder Flaws?
What If my plan for retirement is "never retire"?
Startup Failure is just One Chapter in Founder Life
6 Similarities between Startup Founders and Pro Athletes
All Founders Make Bad Decisions — and That's OK
Startup Board Negotiations: How do I tell the board I need a new deal?
Founder Sacrifice — At What Point Have I Gone Too Far?
Youth Entrepreneurship: Can Middle Schoolers be Founders?
Living the Founder Legend Isn't so Fun
Why Do VC Funded Startups Love "Fake Growth?"
How Should I Share My Wealth with Family?
How Many Deaths Can a Startup Survive?
This is Probably Your Last Success
Why Do We Still Have Full-Time Employees?
The Case Against Full Transparency
Should I Feel Guilty for Failing?
Always Take Money off the Table

How to Pick the Wrong Co-Founder

Wil Schroter

How to Pick the Wrong Co-Founder

There's no perfect to know if you've found a great Co-Founder, but there are some really obvious ways to tell you're about to recruit a bad one!

Yet picking Co-Founders isn't something many of us will do more than once in our lifetime, so how could we possibly know what to look for? There's no absolute checklist, but there are 3 categories where most Founders don't press hard enough — Selection, Shared Cost, and Commitment.

Technically there's a fourth, which is "personality type," but that's so incredibly hard to determine in the early stages (see: all of dating and marriage) that it's almost not worth mentioning compared to the Big Three. If all of these start to sound way too familiar, it may be worth thinking about an exit strategy.

"Oh, You Really Like My Idea? You're Qualified!"

Whenever someone asks me whether the Co-Founder they are considering is a good fit, I ask, "How would you compare them to the other candidates?" knowing full well there never are any. Isn't it crazy that the single most important person we will ever "hire" often only needs to be the first to show up to get the job?

Of course, there's a reason for that — we're not exactly dealing with a long line of applicants! But that should be our first red flag. If we have next to zero options for who to hire for this critical role, is going "all in" on the first available person our best decision right now?

We don't have to go all in immediately. We can simply engage this candidate on a temporary or consulting basis as a trial (for both sides). Let's see if they show up for work 3 to 6 months from now before we give them half of our future net worth. It's OK — and preferable — to bail on a few bad fits before we find the right one.

"You Realize 50% Means Expenses, too?"

When people say they want equity, what they mean is an upside. What they fail to realize is in the formative stages, we are all paying to go to work. So when a Co-Founder joins without being told they also have to shoulder their percentage of the cost, we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The right Co-Founder will ask what kinds of expenses they need to absorb and calculate their ability to to so, and for how long. The wrong Co-Founder will either never ask (because they don't understand what Co-Founder equity means) or they will just assume the "company" takes care of expenses, not realizing that they ARE the company!

The way to make this work is to not only lay out the upside scenario but also explain what current and projected costs might look like, too. If our Co-Founder-to-be is scared off over shouldering $500 per month in expenses, imagine when the real bills start coming (like payroll).

"If You Can't Come in on Saturday..."

There's an old saying in investment banking that goes, "If you can't come in on Saturday, don't bother coming in on Sunday." When people hear that quote, they simply think it means, "Oh my! We have to work on weekends?" but the spirit of that quote is much different. It means if you're not fully committed, no matter what, go find another job.

Startups are very much a "come in Saturday" type operation, whether we're working our weekends or not. There are very few Founders who don't understand this inherently, but getting someone else to understand it is very difficult to do. The perfect Co-Founder will outwork us. They are there on our metaphorical Sunday without asking. The Co-Founder we're going to dread is the one that clock punches out at 5 p.m. while we're still doing their share of the work.

There's no perfect way to gauge the level of commitment a future Co-Founder might have without actually seeing them work. That's why a trial period is always a good idea to see what kind of athlete they are before recruiting them to our team. There's nothing worse than finding out you've hitched your startup wagon not to a stallion, but to a donkey.

In Case You Missed It

I’m Burnt Out. What Do I Do? When we hit a point of burnout it's important that we understand what to do about it. If we ignore it, the problem only gets much worse. So let's take a look at what Founders do to deal with burnout head-on.

How To Write A Business Plan: A Comprehensive Guide A step-by-step guide on writing a business plan to catch an investor's attention & serve as a guiding star for your business.

What if I Fired Everyone and Started Over? (podcast) As your business grows, everything changes. All things evolve, and skills must upgrade. This includes everyone in the entire organization.

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Viking Metal Garages

Nice

Reply9 months ago

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