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Just a thought on # cofounders 1 super hard, can be lonely, need a sparring partner 2 ideal, divide responsibilities, move faster 3 means politicking can start, 2v1 - if 3 then at least make sure 1 has majority All can work + not hard and fast rules but food for thought All about optimizing for speed and velocity to get work done, have proper deliberation but not too much, + just build
With a solo founder what have you seen work to replace the co-founder sparring partner function?
2 is good. One balances the other. 1 is on the business side, while the other deals with product & technology. The vision should always be aligned. 3+ is a crowd and that's when things can and most often times do go wrong.
1 founder > 3 cofounders
1 founder. From what I’ve seen, starting from the ground up with anyone else is super risky. Hard to find someone who can match and maintain the steady level of drive required to launch and hit profitability. A full stack dev solo founder can get multiple MVPs up and running pretty quickly and cheaply. Can develop, set up analytics, CRM, CDP. Outsource accounting only. When one of the MVPs is market proven, go full steam ahead on that one. Outsource design and community management. Outsource whatever with the revenue that is generated, if you need the help. Automate or OTS the boring stuff. Get it stable. Start working on more MVPs again in parallel. To avoid loneliness, attempt this when you already have experience building systems and a huge codebase. That way, you can go at a healthy pace. Also, have a passion for what you do.
I find two co-founders, one tech and one biz provides the best balance, but only if they have a strong, respectful relationship and similar levels of commitment. I will, however, back coachable solo founders who have already proved they can build the beginnings of a great team. Co-founders who don’t know each other well and/or have limited experience working together tend to fall apart more often than not.
and it follows that 4+ is just ill-advised (like high-school project team where someone does nothing)
1, 2, 3, 10 the most important thing is making sure all cofounders commitment level is the same (all day, all night, all year!), misalignment on this is almost always the reason for tension and issues
Ed Sim I gotta say, you're totally right! Being a founder is tough and oftentimes lonely, so having a supportive partner can make all the difference 🙌🏼 And hey, dividing responsibilities and moving faster sounds like a dream! 🚀 Does having a third cofounder invite some politics? So if you go for it, does at least one person have the majority? 😄💭
Agreed. Always some exceptions but ... you are right overall :)
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4moCurious what you thought about Databricks and their list of 7 founders?