Finding a Co-founder
Balaji Vasudevan
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How to search, find and keep a perfect co-founder for your startup?
Co-founder is a critical component of a startup success. Data shows that startups with a co-founder has significantly more success rate than one without. Also, a startup with a co-founder(s) who brings complimentary skills is better poised to raise capital. So, finding a co-founder who is compatible to a startup is a key element. In this piece, I detail on steps that should be taken to find a co-founder for a startup.
Co-founders are usually partners in a company that own and share the responsibility of organizing, planning and running a startup while helping, nurturing, balancing and inspiring each other with complimentary skills to continue navigating the firm through ups and downs and work together to ride difficult times by complementing each other
Most of the startups would love to operate with a co-founder because data (Startup Genome) shows that startup firms and companies with at least two or more co-founders tend to raise 30% more capital, advance, make progress and grow 3X more quickly than startups with a single founder
Co-founder(s) contribute significantly to building a company and to see overall operation, growth and success of a startup company. So, finding and having the right partner as a co-founder in the team is crucial to the overall success of the startup.
Some tips to search and find a right co-founder(s) are listed below
o??First step is get a short and sharp elevator pitch ready that states the problem you are trying to solve and your solution idea
o??Draft and keep ready a job description for the person you are seeking
o??Search for a person with complimentary skills
o??Use matchmaking sites like CoFounders Lab (https://cofounderslab.com/ ), StartupWeekend (https://startupweekend.org/ ), StartupAgents (https://www.startupagents.com/ )
o??Network both offline and online to find a perfect co-founder in a way similar to finding investors & VC
o??Network with investors and peers to find someone trustworthy
o??Use LinkedIn (https://www.dhirubhai.net/ ) ?to the maximum to promote your startup and find a co-founder match
o??Discuss startup vision, milestones, and metrics early on
o??Attend in person conferences, workshops, incubator, accelerator, University recruiting events, seminars and entrepreneur events
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o??Have a co-founder agreement in place that help define roles and rights of founding partners clear and helps avoid future conflicts.
o??Explore common interests outside of work
o??Search and explore for people who you have worked well in the past
o??Graduate students might be of help.?So, it is worth reaching out to grad students
o??Consider joining a Hackathon to enhance your chances of spotting a co-founder
o??Explore formal programs like Frequency (https://www.pillar.vc/frequency/ ) and OnDeck (https://www.beondeck.com/ ) to meet your next co-founder
o??Think twice before considering a family member for a co-founder role.?More than often, it can lead to conflicts rather than partnerships
o??Finally look for someone with
¨????Integrity
¨????Experience
¨????Recruiting right talent
¨????Hands on skill set
¨????Business sense and knowledge
¨????Cultural fit
¨????Right attitude
Navigating the journey to find a perfect co-founder can truly shape your startup's future. ?? Remember, as Steve Jobs once said - Great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people. Focus on finding someone who not only shares your vision but complements your skills and attitude. ???? #TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork #Visionaries #StartupLife