What do you look for in a co-founder? 👫
André J
21 replies
Here are some of the attributes I personally look for:
**Grit**
Grit involves the passion and perseverance to achieve long-term and meaningful goals, as well as the ability to persist in something you feel passionate about and to persevere when faced with obstacles. Grit is also about perseverance, which means sticking with it and continuing to work hard even after experiencing difficulty or failure.
**Drive**
Drive is a planned effort to achieve something, while motivation is defined as "the willingness to do something, or something that causes willingness." Although both words are goal-oriented, they have significant differences in meaning.
**Spike**
To demonstrate a spike, a founder should show talent and focus on one or two main interests. This can help differentiate them from others and provide a unique value proposition.
What do you look for when looking for a co-founder? 🙏👇
Replies
Cara (Borenstein) Marin@stash_new
Stashpad Docs
Love this. I'd also add that trust is very important and takes time to build. Your co-founder relationship will last many years through ups and downs. You want to make sure you trust your co-founder and have strong communication.
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@stash_new Yeah this one is underrated for sure. Subconsciously I think it's my nr1 priority!
minimalist phone: creating folders
All above mentioned are essentials.
I also look at results achieved or something that can prove that the person has successfully scaled something so far. The projects he/she worked on, how long he/she worked there, and what expertise was acquired.
Then stability, prudence in decisions, and things like that. Diversity is crucial so for me was better to have at least 3 co-founding people. 4 was ideal.
@busmark_w_nika "prudence in decisions" 🥰... 4 cofounders? Won't it quickly become "design by committee"? Instead of burning the midnight oil 😅
minimalist phone: creating folders
@sentry_co More people can mean more struggles but also more personalities that are needed. Like ingredients in the soup.
@busmark_w_nika There is some data on this. Interestingly the data suggests more founders equals more likelihood of making a unicorn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/l... (but using crunchbase as the data source is 😅 )
Valuemetrix
After the basic such us skills etc.. I look to see his personality and if he is a genuine person!
I recommend the book principles by Ray Dalio, it is pretty good to answer this question
Unofficial Product Hunt Chrome Plugin
One that is commonly overlooked is each founder's personal pressures and goals. One time I had to separate from my co-founder because one of us was running out of savings much earlier than the other.
Complementary skills, cold-hearted belief in the vision, someone I enjoy to be around, and a do-er that gains sweat equity in the fact that they take ownership and accountability in their action.
Essentially doesn't make excuses, gets things done, puts in the effort, not afraid to have hard discussions without taking it personal, and is committed to we're in this as a team mantra.
The reality is your cofounder relationship is like a marriage and to boil it down to only a couple attributes is futile
@divine_rivers1 "cold-hearted belief in the vision" 🥰 Have you ever found such a co-founder? Sounds like a beast!!!
@sentry_co Indeed, my Co-Founder 😃
Stylar
The shared vision is the most important.
Co-Founder must be smart, highly driven/motivated, cool/honest & fun to work with
Ringly.io
Someone with complementary skills
A really really good looking guy @christopher_u_han
Motiff
In a co-founder, I seek someone with complementary skills and a shared vision, ensuring we can both inspire and challenge each other to push the boundaries of what's possible. It's about finding that balance between mutual respect and relentless pursuit of innovation.
@ryan_motiff Respect is key
@ryan_motiff "relentless pursuit of innovation" 🤝 that should be the commas needle!
Stashpad Docs
@ryan_motiff love the point on complementary skills.
For me it's been key to think about what my strengths and weaknesses are and find someone whose strengths fill in the gaps of my weaknesses.
I’m action-oriented and find it easy to jump into things without hesitation. There are advantages to this but it also means that I might not think enough before acting. My co-founder thinks a lot before taking action. Combining these two, we act pretty quickly and with intention.