Is it ok to start a startup with a friend, or is it better to avoid making him a business partner?
Zoe Stetsenko
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Mark Pavlyukovskyy@mark_pavlyukovskyy
It's okay to start a startup with a friend, but be mindful of the potential complexities that may arise.
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@mark_pavlyukovskyy yeah, I'm just worried about such complexities, but I can't yet imagine what kind of complexities they might be:)
As many has mentioned in here already, it's ok to create a startup with a friend but think about conflicts that may arise because you need to keep it professional yet friendly, and it's important also to have complementary skills, not exactly similar ones!
@claumarin right, thanks, I'm worried that being friendly and wanting to avoid arguing with a friend might negatively affect product development:(
@zoia_stetsenko you need to set clear boundaries right from the beginning, trying to create hypothetical situations saying look, if someone messes something up, losses a client or doesn't meet a deadline, how should we deal with each other? How should we react? We're friends but at work we need to keep things professional especially when the matter is urgent or important. And from that discussion try to evolve into something even bigger.
But from what I've realised in trying to create several products with friends, not all of them might be a match, the founding team needs to have the entrepreneurial spirit so you won't be fighting alone in this journey, meaning you don't have to push the founder as well..
Hope it helps!
@claumarin Thank you very much, this is very valuable advice!❤️ We need to be able to correctly assess all the risks of collaboration with friends and prepare solutions for possible incidents in advance..
I do believe make friends to be business partners is one of the best way to start with according to so many successful facts. You know exactly what he is capable
of, know his soft qualities, and it also save a lot of trust costs. just make sure before and during your cooperation, the relevant provisions involving interests need to be specified in writing.
Starting a startup with a friend can be a fantastic adventure filled with shared passion, trust, and complementary skills
Absolutely! Starting a startup with a friend can be a fantastic adventure filled with shared passion, trust, and complementary skills
Working with a friend boosts teamwork and motivation through a shared vision.
Friends often have different skills, leading to a diverse problem-solving approach.
Hey!
I believe this is quite common among founders in startups. That relationship can make the startup grow because you try to work hard with your friend on your idea from the beginning. Sometimes, you try to bring good cv profile founders to your team and they don't have the attitude that requires a startup. I will probably go with a friend, if that is a real friend, I know the friend and it is someone I know is a hard worker. What do you think?
Cheers,
@rubenlozanome Ruben, you are looking at the root of the problem! because I know this friend well, I also know his pros and cons, and the cons stop me from cooperating a little bit...
@zoia_stetsenko good to do that exercise of thinking. What about other friends?? hahaha 😂
@rubenlozanome haha, yes, I guess, I need to be more selective in my choice of friends so I don't bore product hunters with my tedious questions😂
@zoia_stetsenko noooo... hahaha you always are welcome to ask. This question makes me think about it. So, thanks.
If you see a potential partner, why not? Everything needs to be discussed with your adviser in the company.
It's ok to do it. In my experience the best outcome comes from cases where the friends (and then partners) have worked previously together (as the friendship and work dynamics can be different). My recommendation is to focus on the advantages while keeping an eye on the potential risks that may arise.
There will come a time where you need to have a hard talk with your business partner. They could be messing up, you could be messing up. You'll need to be able to address this for the health of your business, and if you are unwilling to have this conversation because of the friendship, it can really hurt the business. If you have the kind of relationship where you can and do constructively criticize your friend, where you can and do disagree with them without terrible emotional consequences, you can probably work together. If you don't know if you have this kind of relationship, I'd be very careful. If you do, it can be incredibly rewarding to work with friends. I've been fortunate to mostly have worked with friends my entire career, and we're very candid with each other.
@graham_hine It's hard for me to predict how the partnership will turn out, but I'll take my chances and hope that I will be as lucky as you are:)
I've matured this process after losing a couple of friends. Now I've former co-founders that are still my friends.
My conclusion is that both (Or as many in the relationship) should have:
1. A Lot of maturity.
2. Similar Experience. Dealing with co-founders issues
3. Very clear goals individually and mutually together.
4. Very clear dates defined to achieve goals.
5. Constant communication about goals and mentality. Stay strong together.
If some of them don't have ALL these checkpoints... eventually issues will rise :/ that could lead to a potential loss if it's not addressed fast. .. And it goes down quickly but silently.... Beware!
Those are the top 5 I could think for now. I'll keep thinking... Thanks for your question!
I missed the most important one: Follow your heart/guts. At the end of the day, trusting someone is taking the leap..
P.D. You will know in which cases to set all these rules in paper for both to have it as reference. The "what will happen if we come to this point" should be written as clear as possible. Any consequences you both agree on.
Cheers!
I thought this was a short idea haha sorry!
@aalvz wow, that's very helpful advice, thank you, Alfonso, very much! and if before I was already inclined to take risks, now I realize that I'll probably give myself more time, because after analyzing my situation according to these points, I realize that a friendship is the best that we could build with a friend, but a partnership is unlikely
@zoia_stetsenko Right. And that's perfectly ok as well, right? Sometimes there's a weird commitment to the relationship that starts to cross boundaries and we all know that boundaries are great and they help us build even greater relationships :) They key is to always keep expectations clear. Psych Safety. Trust that you can communicate what you want and others will listen and so on. :)
.. "You will know when it's right".. Those quotes that help but don't help.. haha
It is great to have a friend as your Cofounder if both of you compensate each other's weakness in terms of startup and business.
You may divide your departments based on your strengths and let owner of that department be the final decision maker.
It could result in great partnership if both of you understand each other's work style and give space for experimentation.
If you wish to find a cofounder outside of your network, try Angel Investor for finding cofounder for your startup. Link in bio. !angelinvestor