3 ms·
Ask HN: Brothers (/sisters) as co-founders?
Does anyone have experience with this? From a financier's standpoint, is it a good thing to have one's own brother (or sister, as the case may be) involved in a venture?
I figure, on the one hand the brother can't really bail (and you can't really bail) since you can't "escape your own blood". So when times get rough, the probability is high the core team will stick through. But there's also another saying, by which you "can't choose your family but you can choose your friends".
Whether you can make it work or not probably really depends on your specific family bonds and compatibility. But from a purely outsider's perspective, is a brother-brother venture perceived as more risky or less risky than "normal" co-founderships#?
------
# Not sure this is even an English word but I suppose it's clear what I mean to say.
- Mz 16y agoQuick google turns ups: Disney was founded by two brothers. Columbia Pictures was founded by two brothers and apparently a third unrelated individual. Aflac was founded by three brothers. Conoco-Philips was founded by two brothers. I'm sure you could find lots of other examples if you tried. I think one of the advantages of such a situation is superior communication due to years and years of practice/context. My sons want to found a company together. They blow my mind with the way they work cooperatively, sometimes without saying a word, just because they both know what the other will do. So I can readily imagine this dynamic in other situations, assuming the brothers have a good, solid relationship. (Another truism being that most murders are committed by someone close to you, such as a blood relative, lover, or business partner.)
- mrphoebs 16y agoI say friends, family trumps startup. And since a startup is a high pressure environment I would think twice before putting a relationship I value under that kind of stress.