How To Find a Co-founder For Your Startup
How To Find a Co-founder For Your Startup
Tips & Tricks for Finding the Best Co-founders for Your Startup
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Everything's settled. Well, almost. You already have plans for your startup. Or you have already taken the first step and established your humble beginnings. What's left for now is to find the perfect people to work with you. But how are you going to do this? Or who should you partner with? This particular stage is probably harder than it seems.
Most businesses start with a few founders as they bring different skill sets to the startup. These skill sets include planning, marketing, and often development. Though some companies have grown as one man's empires, like Jeff Bezos of Amazon, you would take the more difficult path by following his. It's near impossible to be an expert in technology, sales, and all the other skills needed to run a startup alone. It's just right and much more beneficial to find co-founders or build your startup's foundation team.
Indeed, you'll look for people who would fit the specific needs of your business. You would also consider experience, problem-solving skills, passion, flexibility, and trustworthiness as criteria in selecting. These are the vital points to looking for good co-founders, but these are just common tips to ensure that these co-founders are also the right ones.
5 Experts’ Advice for Finding Co-founders
1. Do Not Just Hire
As ironic as it sounds, hiring business partners is the last thing you'd want. You need talent, but finding it is more expensive than ever. Exceptional people have their price, and investors wouldn't like you wasting capital on outsourced talent. For example, you might spend around USD 40,000 to USD 100,000 per year just for one competent software or web developer. That's already a huge amount of money to risk on a single person.
Investors would rather want to see you working with a bunch of people with the same drive as you. What you need are partners who are willing to grow with you and your venture. You need people who will invest their potential in your business and win in the long run.
To onboard the right ones, make sure your co-founders have what it takes to make the idea come alive. As simple as this sounds, many startup gigs have failed because the co-founders weren't on the same page from day one. Most problems arise after startups are funded, and things get real.
The two most valuable assets a good co-founder can have are:
Business and technical expertise
Useful networks & connections
A technical co-founder, for example, is required in the tech industry. In eCommerce, having a co-founder with retail experience or a connection in the industry makes all the difference. Nonetheless, a technical co-founder, a retail co-founder, or an eComm co-founder—all these terms boil down to one thing: you need a partner who shares the same drive and dedication to your entrepreneurial vision.
2. Build Relationships
The saying that a person with many friends is rich has always been true in business. Relationships are a rare currency. Most people have the same personalities and ways of thinking as you are your friends and family. You would know the right person for this job after knowing someone for several years. You, as a friend, know where someone excels.
Use these advantages to find the right people for your business. Connect with old friends, colleagues, or relatives you think might be as invested in your business as you are. As the first people to build your startup are the most critical ones, choosing those you trust the most is important.
But be mindful of whom to trust too. Not all our friends are as good as we thought they were. Consider relationships, but do not be swayed by them. It is not because you are friends with someone that makes them fit to be a co-founder. Remember that friends can help you grow your business, or business can ruin your friendship.
You must also know if the co-founder you are looking for will work full-time or part-time. The long-term success of your startup depends on this decision. You don't want to onboard someone at the last minute who might not be able to commit as much as they thought they could, or worse, they might quit.
3. Align Goals and Values
Your co-founders will be like the other parts of you. They will fill in your shortcomings in some aspects. As partners, you will be fulfilling theirs if they are down too. Partners with a complementary set of skills to yours can complete certain tasks that you might struggle with or not be able to do at all.
Finding the right co-founders can also be very tricky. Who has the authority to make the "final word" on strategic decisions, and who makes operational decisions? When raising money, it's easier if one person makes investment decisions and sets the tone for negotiating. When you're not fundraising, it can be more effective for both founders to have decision-making authority while still communicating about key decisions as they're made.
Build a core team with co-founders functioning as one. Also, note that business goals may shift or change because of the external environment. It's crucial still to have the support of your co-founders on this.
Ensure that you all embody the business's mission and vision statement. Finding people with the right values is just as important as finding talent, as this will mould your working environment in the future.
When we talk about values, we also mean personal values—principles and beliefs, for example. It is common for co-founders to disagree, but making it clear what the company values and stands for is important.
The company's values should also be clear to every team member from day 1. This is critical when making a decision as a group. Ask from the start: Is the company compatible with each of the co-founders' personal values?
4. Work on Small to Big Projects Together
There's no better assessment than working with the people first-hand. But rather than straight-up working on the biggest ideas together, it's much better to team up on small projects first. You could create a simple product on something of the same interest over a set timeframe.
You could also let your potential co-founders solve a simple problem in your business. Evaluate their compatibility with your business. You can work with different people on various things to know what roles they'd fit. Succeeding in such situations means you can also work with them on bigger projects in the future.
Once you've proven your compatibility with your co-founder and have them in place, take a simple approach with a co-founder agreement. It's a good idea to get something in writing. A simple one-page co-founder agreement that clearly defines responsibilities while outlining company structure and operations can reduce future tensions.
5. Complete the Three Types
Having all three types of people in your core team would be the best lineup: leader, hustler, and techie. Without these roles, your business may lack the balance and leadership it needs to foster. As a matter of fact, management problems account for 65% of business failures. That’s why expanding your team with the best people is crucial.
The leader, of course, will be the one to lead the team and the business itself.
You may take this role at first, as you find the other members. Most founders also become the leaders of the startups. But meeting more competent people who you think have better leadership skills than you might also be a good opportunity. Some founders assign the CEO and COO to someone other than themselves. It’s never a bad choice to pass on titles and responsibilities to the most capable ones.
Another important role is the hustler.
They oversee finance, sales, business development, marketing, etc. They are the people on the road meeting clients, in the office managing finances, or meetings setting plans. They’ve got all the ideas and passion for succeeding but will need creators to bring these ideas to life. You can’t outbid talents from big companies with money alone. You’ll need a hustler to convince these talents to be part of your growing business.
If hustlers have the skills, techies have the talents or brains your startup needs.
They are skilled in technical strategies and product development. They can build the products that your business aims to create. But they, too, need the hustler’s help to put these products on the market and strive. What good is a product with no customers, right?
Where To Find Your Core Team
So if you’re not supposed to spend a lot of money on hiring people, where can you find your core team? While it may seem hard, your core team is nearby. Why burn dollars for people you don’t know when you can team up with a more guaranteed team?
👬 Friends or friends of friends
More often than not, your friends are actually people with the same mindset as you. Having your friends as your teammates is an advantage—there’s less conflict, and you know them so well. But if you don’t think you have a friend that fits the job, you may have your buddies refer to someone they know!
🤝 Colleagues
Of course, you only want the best of the best to join you in your company. And where are experts made? That’s right; they’re from the university! You may want to review your old college class—the people you once ate with, copied notes from, and partied with. Since you’ve been with them in the academy, you can better grasp their level and expertise.
📱 Social media and matchmaking sites
Social media is like a marketplace of people. Many content creators, businesspeople, and public figures get acknowledged for a reason. They’re shining and just waiting for the right teammates to reap their full potential, so be keen. There are also online communities where you can get in touch with many potential-filled people looking for opportunities.
Aside from that, do you know that there are sites that let experts get in touch with potential partners and teammates? YC Co-founder, CoFoundersLab, and StarHawks are just some of the top platforms you can match collaborators with. Think of them as dating apps but for professionals and business-minded people.
🗣️ Conferences
Think of job fairs but for startup collaborators. Startup forums are like a feast filled with founders and professionals. Become updated on the upcoming business conferences in your area to get in touch with potential co-founders who will help you level up your game.
💼 Accelerators and business incubators
You can share a space with business incubators and accelerators and get acquainted with your co-entrepreneurs. Take time to exchange ideas– you may actually establish a common ground, which can serve as a solid foundation to lead you to your business goal.
While the two may seem similar, incubators and accelerators differ slightly. Incubators provide a more relaxed environment, while accelerators set competitive qualifications for their participants. Depending on your needs, one may work better than the other. So be clear with your goal, and weigh the pros and cons.
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