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I spend more time with my cofounder than with my wife. I cannot imagine co-founding with anyone I havent known closely for 1yr+, ideally much longer. This is

I spend more time with my cofounder than with my wife. I cannot imagine co-founding with anyone I havent known closely for 1yr+, ideally much longer. This is especially for non-technical co-founders who would provide value after i've put in the work to technically de-risk the company. I dont think this is about gauging technical skills, it is about gauging long-term aspirations, motivations, behavior under pressure, and response to ethically challenging situations. You can ask about these in a simple interview, but people can easily be dishonest.

eloff 10y ago
Exactly this. I would compare choosing a cofounder to getting married. It's not a decision that should be taken lightly, and it's better to stay single than try to settle with the wrong person or someone you don't know very well. Founder disputes are one of the biggest causes of company failure. There are more single founder successes[1] than VCs would lead you to believe. Maybe not so many in the unicorn category which is all VCs really care about - but you're not a VC, it's not unicorn or broke for you. I think most of us would still consider it a success if you only managed to replace your income, but got to work on something you enjoy and to be your own boss. But you'll need to bootstrap rather than secure VC funding if your company doesn't have unicorn potential. That said, being a single founder is HARD. You need someone else to talk to, to bounce ideas off, to offer emotional support during the dark days where you doubt yourself and can't see a path to success. But you can get those things from other people, you don't have to have a cofounder. [1] https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/26/co-founders-optional/ https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/26/co-founders-optional/