Is it possible to recruit a co-founder?

Prashant,

I wrote a case study on Jumpcut that deals a lot with founder/team dynamics. That company was founded by two guys who didn’t know each other, but got together and decided to work on a trial basis.

Ironically, they then only hired people they knew well. Check out my study at
www.startup-review.com for details.

Good luck!

I’m surprised that you’ve been encouraged to find more co-founders since 2 is a good number to start. Having too many people too early can dilute your vision. Sometimes investors will tell you that if they are looking for validation, but you should know better than anyone how many people your team needs.

I would warn against hiring/engaging people whom you haven’t worked with before as you already have enough work to do – learning how to work together is a stress you would prefer to avoid. It’s no coincidence that effective teams move from opportunity to opportunity together , since they have already solved the hurdle of working together.

If you don’t have any former co-workers that fit the bill, be sure to set very clear expectations for the people you add to your team to make the working together learning process easier.

Finally, good buzz/PR is the best recruiting tool after your personal network. Get people excited about what you’re doing and they will come to you.

Jay, I’d be interested in publishing your study here for Found|READ. Are you willing to let us repost it?
Carleen Hawn
Editor
Found|READ

They are telling you that you don’t have all the skills / pre-requisites to succeed.

Challenge them on this in a polite way to get more feedback on what you might be missing. Then trust your gut on whether to listen to them.

Your gut is already telling you the right thing about “discover” vs. “find”.

Prashant,

I found myself in a similar situation several years ago, so I decided to create on online assessment tool and community to help “match” potential business partners that have a higher probability of success of being a good fit. My co-founder for that project is a PHD statistician, and the eProfile (Entrepreneur Profile) we created is based on real research and multiple studies on both nascent and successful entrepreneurs and business partners.

Perhaps it can help you? I’m not trying to be overly commercial here or plug my own thing…just wanted to let you know about it since it is very relevant.

You can take the eProfile and connect with others in the community at http://www.PeopleThatClick.com

If you take the profile, let me know what eType you are. I might know some people who can help you.

Hi Prashant,
My partner and I started our own journey about a little over a year ago and we are scheduled to launch the beta in 2 weeks. I believe that you must closely consider 2 main aspects to any co-founder relationship.

1) Skill sets: How do you create synergy with each other, how does your experience and skill sets compliment one another. For example, you are a software engineer that might understand a bit about marketing, ideally you should find someone who is a marketing expert that knows a little about software engineering. Also the passion, mutual respect, mutual flexibility in the decision making process and dedication will be factored into this.
2) Relationship: It is apparent that you should have a great working relationship with your co-founder and partner, but what about your personal lives. You will be pouring your time, imagination, frustration and jubilation into your dreams, if you cannot share this and know your partners family and personal life (to some degree of course) then how can you truly communicate effectively.

My partner and I talked 3 days a week for the first 6 months before meeting, we then got together each week for the next 3 months and eventually we traveled to India and lived in the same apartment for 3 months. Needless to say this is unusual, but it formed a bond and a mutual dedication that has served us well in the hardest of moments.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to dicsuss further.
Zach

As usual, the right answer (my favorite) is “depends.” I’ve been in partnerships with people I had known from the past, that didn’t work out that great. The main question, do you really need (an)other founder(s)? Again, depends. Most entrepreneurs I have known are not perfect, and could use some synergetic relationship with others who would complement their strengths. Occasionally, there are people who can do it all on their own. I like to think of myself as one who can do it all, but I really am not, and I have learned it. You should be honest with yourself when you try to answer that question. But if you don’t look around (i.e., “search to find”) you probably won’t “discover.”

All the best.

I just learned recently that a startup here in the Twin Cities has been working quietly for some time on a networking model to address this issue. They just launched their site: www.PartnerUp.com.

It sure is a common occurrence in today’s Web 2.0 environment: a developer comes up with a great idea, creates a wonderful site or working prototype, then has to figure out how to add one or two complementary team members (and marketing or bus dev is almost always part of that). Except in the unlikely event a guy had some huge success before and made a bunch of people rich, a lone wolf just won’t be taken seriously by angels or VCs. They only take highly calculated risks in investable businesses.

cheers,
Graeme
www.Tech-Surf-Blog.com

I’m at the same stage right now. All the good people that I worked with in the past, are, for some reason, not confident enough to give up their current jobs and come on board full time.

I intend to involve them on part-time basis, and over next 3-4 months see if the wavelengths match. Till then my team is only one person strong. It’d be far worse getting a wrong person as co-founder than waiting till we find/discover the right one, wouldn’t it?

As far as funding goes, the best way to get it is to find a beta customer who knows you well and trusts you enough to put some money behind you.