One of the most crucial decisions for an entrepreneur is picking the right co-founders.
Having colleagues who provide complementary skills, speed up productivity, and just be there when times get tough can make or break a startup.
But it’s not always easy finding the right fit — and to make it work as partners along the entrepreneurial journey, which can last for a decade or longer.
I stopped by Ascend’s Founders Bash party on Thursday in Seattle. The early stage venture capital firm this week launched a new “co-founder matching program” called Co-Founder Connect.
It’s similar to Y Combinator’s Co-founder Matching platform, but focused on Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
I spoke with both longtime entrepreneurs as well as founders just getting their companies off the ground at the event Thursday to learn more about the dynamics of choosing a co-founder.
One common theme emerged: past experience working together can be super valuable. You know how someone handles stress; you know what they value.
Colin Lamont has spent nearly three decades in the Seattle tech scene and co-founded three startups, including Vternal, a data company that he launched in 2019 with former RealNetworks colleagues.
“Startups are hard. It’s a lot of pain, a lot of stressful situations. It doesn’t always go smoothly,” he said. “So you have to have someone you can trust.”
Seattle marketing leader Ryan Steingard joined Seattle-based fintech startup Upwardli as a co-founder last year. “I worked with them previously,” he said of the other Upwardli co-founders. “They are good people. And they are very good at what they do.”
Andy Liu sold two startups before launching Unlock Venture Partners, an early stage firm based in Seattle and Los Angeles.
“Anecdotally, from our investing experience, the best co-founders are the ones that have worked together,” Liu said.
Liu himself co-founded NetConversions (sold to aQuantive) and BuddyTV (sold to Vizio) with his longtime colleague David Niu. They met as MBA students at Wharton.
But there’s more to picking the right co-founder than familiarity with one another.
“Complementary skillsets are critical,” said Stacy Saal, founder of Seattle-based startup studio Jelly Collective.
Lisa Graham co-founded Ravel, a Seattle-based textile recycling startup, with former classmates who “all brought a little something different to the table.”
Investors tend to prefer startups with multiple co-founders. But there are benefits to having complete control of the ship and being a sole founder.
Jeff Bezos did it at Amazon, as one example. And 65% of startups fail due to founder conflict, according to Noam Wasserman, author of The Founder’s Dilemmas.
“You can move really fast. And you can stay really lean,” said Rachel Vrabec, founder of Kanary, a 5-year-old privacy startup.
Vrabec originally started the company with two co-founders, but they departed early on. She stuck it out and now her company is growing.
Looking back, Vrabec is happy she persevered and called her current team “amazing.” But she said it can be difficult not having other co-founders who are also “significantly invested on the cap table and ready to make that 10-year commitment.”
Lamont said those who are looking for co-founders need to network as much as possible and practice their 15-second pitch.
“Just talk to as many people as you can,” he said.
Here are some resources for entrepreneurs trying to find a co-founder:
- First Round: The Founder Dating Playbook — here’s the process I used to find my co-founder (and the 50 questions to ask)
- Harvard Business Review: Co-founders need to learn how to (productively) disagree
- Y Combinator: How to find the right co-founder
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