To Co-Found or to Not Co-Found That is the Question

A common theme I have notice among successful ventures is that there are very few successful sole founders. Even Bill Gates had Paul Allen. The richest man alive might have been the driving force behind the empire that is Microsoft, but it would not have happened the way it did without Paul Allen. There is always a team and there are a few reasons that this is the case the the world today.

The first being that there is simply too much to do for one person to accomplish all of the tasks necessary to have a successful business. Its not impossible, people have done it before, but get ready to not sleep, ever. Besides getting beauty sleep, Co-Founders are more attractive to VCs and other sources of capital, as Rebekah Campbell says in her article; VCs like to invest in co-founders because one will pick up the slack of the other; co-founders will keep each other motivated and will make for better decision making. Venture Capitalists believe that all of this leads to a higher chance of success.

The most important factor in bringing on a co-founder is the skills that they bring to the table. Gleb Dubman writes that having co-founders fills in holes that one founder might have making the company a more complete package, again making the chance of success even higher.

There are so many benefits to having a co-founder or 2 when starting your own company, but its not all sunshine and roses (But when is it ever…#DisneyMoviesLie). Mark Suster of Both Sides of the Table wrote a great post about how you have to be very careful when starting with co-founders, even if they are your brother from another mother that you have known since pre-school. The startup life brings out the best and the worst in people and no matter how well you think you know someone they could flip the script on you and leave you out to dry. But that is a whole different monster that is neither here nor there. The point is having a co-founder is a fantastic thing to do, just be careful, picking the wrong one could ruin everything for everyone.

Also if you don’t already read Mark Suster’s Blog, Bothsides of The Table, you are missing out. The dude has done it all, his experience speaks for itself and he is a wonderful writer, so unlike my blog, you won’t get bored reading all his posts.