How to Find Great Cofounders
I think there’s this kind of bias in startups that companies are “founded“. The truth is, they’re “built“ and that building happens over a long period.
I’ve had a few cofounder relationships and seen many more. As I get into it, I think there are three *must* haves in a cofounder relationship:
Matching vibes and energies (impossible to quantify, you just feel it)
Semi-complementary skill sets
Unrelenting dedication
The complementary skill sets and dedication things are totally obvious, but how do you find someone that matches your energy?
Not often talked about, I think the optimal strategy is to just do things and see who gets excited and wants to come along. The flip side of this is to see someone just doing things at the earliest stages and offer to help, oftentimes without any sort of compensation.
Have an idea for a product? Just ship it and start talking about it. Who of your friends gets excited?
See one of your friends building something great? Offer to help them.
This vs something formal is actually an amazing start, because the alignment on the goal and the energy to get there is almost 1:1 across parties. It sucks to be recruiting someone, and it’s super energizing to just build something and find out who else gets excited about it too.
What about the person that “founded“ the company? Lose the fucking ego dude. Big things are built in periods of decades. As I get into it, I realize that anyone who joins within 2 years of founding can be a “cofounder“ as long as they meet the criteria. The best way to structure this is equal splits, regardless of who started first. Sometimes it makes sense to do a 1 share split or something just to crown a decision maker, but overall you should always be equal with cofounders.
Obviously, people who get excited aren’t all the right fit. It’s unusual for someone super excited to not be dedicated, but before you sign any docs you should understand everyone’s skills and commitments.
Hope this helps someone out there looking for a cofounder. Just stop looking and either ship something or look for the things that give you energy. Will take you a lot further.