Sole founder vs. co-founders?

Jan Forsthuber
9 replies
Having co-founders is a double-edged sword. What's your experience? Here's my story 👇 “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” 💡 This is a famous quote by Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn. In November 2019, we had closed our first B2B deal before the production was even ready. However, later in December, when the first version of our Carpio wrist rest actually came out of the factory door… I thought it was a piece of sh*t. Reid can say whatever he wants, of course I didn’t want to launch that thing. When we actually delivered that order, I felt like a scammer. This was one of those moments I wished I was a sole founder so things could have gone my way. This is hard to admit, but luckily, my other two co-founders Primož and Amadej saw the situation with different eyes. Because in reality, the product did its job - it was good enough. Our customers didn’t even notice all the flaws that I did. I was just suffering from a disease called perfectionism (I don’t recommend). In fact, if I was running DeltaHub on my own, we’d probably still be perfecting it, instead of doing business. In that case, who knows if our company would even exist today. And that would be a shame. We’d miss out on all the learnings - how to sell, ship worldwide, manage the supply chain, hire and grow a team. But most importantly, we’d miss out on feedback from actual customers that helped us understand what really needed to be fixed. This is one of the reasons why the second version, Carpio 2.0, that we launched in July 2021, was so well received. So looking back on this, even though dealing with my co-founders is often far from enjoyable (mildly put), I’ve learned our different views are essential for growth (I do recommend). It’s just my ego that doesn’t like being challenged. Now that I’m not embarrassed anymore, we’re launching Carpio 2.0 on ProductHunt haha :D

Replies

Lara Razinger
Totally agree! Beginnings are the hardest, but it's all worth it in the end :)
Zala Gajser
Here's to those who inspire you and don't even know it :)!
Miha BerÄŤiÄŤ
It's how Life works - constant improvement. Neverending story. good relationships = co-founders great
AnĹľe Miklavec
Happy to see that you are launching Carpio 2.0. Good luck with everything! Entrepreneurship is all about improving and trying to be better every day!
Nishith from True Sparrow
My co-founder is my wife @shahdeepa :) The best partner I could ever dream of!