7 ms·

Ask HN: Workable arrangements for long-distance co-founders?

13 points by teesort 10y ago

I am looking for concrete examples of successful arrangements for startups where one or more of the founders were based in different locations. Let's say that long-distance is any distance more a 3-hour drive away. As for what counts as successful, let's say that success is any time one of the pitfalls of long-distance is avoided. For example, if it's commonly said that investors are scared of investing in long-distance founders, then a success would be a case where they happily invested despite, or even because of, the long-distance issue. INVESTORS - What special qualities made investors supportive? - If they had concern, what solved it? Did they require special terms? - Did the funding round, or category, make any difference? Angels vs VCs? - What extra legwork was needed to find/convince investors? YC - Is there any example of a YC company with long-distance founders? - If so, did they come in person for the duration of YC itself? - If so, what special qualities made YC OK with it? - Would changing the people XOR the pitch have made a difference? RELATIONSHIPS - How were communication barriers overcome? - How was anger/frustration dealt with? - Was regular travel a positive factor in making it work? - Was a certain location considered HQ? How were 'second class' issues solved? - Were missed social outings made up for in some way? WORK / PRODUCTIVITY - What processes helped overcome productivity issues? OTHER - For speaking engagements, conferences, parties, trade shows, etc., was anything special done to include the remote person? - Did the compensation arrangement or contract require any special provisions for payment, equity, benefits, roles/titles, etc.? - Looking back on the experience, other than a blanket statement of "don't do long-distance co-founders", what would you go back and change?

spdustin 10y ago
My "co-founder" (I was solo until she joined up with me and we decided to re-invent how the company operates) is 1,000 miles away. We're on Slack when we're awake, have notifications set to trigger on keywords like "need" and "help" and "problem" and "ticket" and so on rather than every message. Our systems all log updates to their own channels, including file sharing (so we can "see" what the other is working on) and git commits (for projects not just shared via Dropbox). We have a short call (15-20 minutes) every morning, and a project in Asana for those daily agendas so we have a quick list of "checkins" we each make. Throughout the day, if a question isn't an urgent one, we just add it to tomorrow's check-in agenda. We cheerlead for each other during those calls, too. Hubot listens in on Slack (using the pseudonym @walken, as in Christopher Walken) so if we post what looks like a Jira issue for a client we're working on, he'll helpfully summarize it and link it. Same with HelpScout conversation IDs, the system where all other inbound email goes. She's a designer-type and I'm a ... Well, a crossbreed of designer/developer/big thinker. When we are working on something together, we'll often just open FaceTime and leave it open while we work, for the immediacy of it. Every other month, we get together in the same place to work, and to have some non-work interaction, like a dinner or a museum or something. We agree to use emoji in our messages (don't groan, dear reader) because "text lacks tone", and emoji can make the difference between perceived sarcasm and playfulness. We have phrases we've committed to using to avoid misunderstanding. For example, sometimes one of us needs to vent, and if the other were to try and help, it would only feel like we're not being heard. So we formalized saying "I'm venting:" as a sign that the other should just listen. We also don't say "I'm sorry" when the other person is done venting. Instead, we've made a game of stringing together three random-ish words as a response, trying to be funny without referring to the context of the message at all. "Purple goats warble" or "database staffordshire shitballs". iOS auto-suggestions for us are weird. Basically, we do what we can do be "present" for the other, even when we're not actively doing work stuff. And sometimes we do Hearthstone duels. She's awesome. And we have a great partnership because of all of this.
- teesort 10y ago
  I really like the idea of agreeing on a few personal comms "protocols" in advance -- especially your example escape hatch for venting. Without a safe way to let out some negativity, anger and frustration can just hang there, and eventually develop into resentment and distrust. I am a big believer that any environment where no one is allowed to admit they are frustrated, bored, or feeling cynical, is a toxic one, and that's especially true in the case of remote work. I work remotely myself, and I find emoji absolutely essential. A completely neutral question such as "hey did you finish xyz?" can come off as nagging, pressuring, and even passive-aggressive, especially if you happen to be the manager of the other person. Emoji at least lightens that tone and shows that the question comes from a friendly place. On the flip side, it's not enough to just avoid negative pitfalls. You also have to work a bit harder to achieve a truly positive environment. In person, actions like a smile or a high five can really boost morale and communicate "I am happy with the work you are doing." Over long distance, you really have to go much further. You have to actually type out, "Hey, next time you're in town I owe you a beer for the awesome job you did this week. Keep kicking ass."
  - spdustin 10y ago
    Agreed about positive reinforcement; we use the "heart" in Asana and Slack reactions all the time. These little things become part of a shared visual language that becomes an effective proxy for vocal tone and body language when you're not physically present.