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In my current company, I wish I had handed out the cofounder title more liberally to early employees. The engineer in me wanted to stay true to the definition o
by indymike 6y ago
In my current company, I wish I had handed out the cofounder title more liberally to early employees. The engineer in me wanted to stay true to the definition of "founder" but in retrospect, all of the initial employees would have loved to be founders, too (and with that, behaved as cofounders). The next startup I do will have a small parking lot full of cofounders.
- afarrell 6y ago> all of the initial employees would have loved to be founders, too (and with that, behaved as cofounders) Unless you actually had a conversation with them with real clarity about expectations, be very careful in holding this conclusion. > The next startup I do will have a small parking lot full of cofounders. Do not do this until you have lived in a communal house with at least 15 people and stayed up until at least 3am discussing kitchen-cleaning responsibilities.
- tagami 6y agoIf you have to stay up until 3am to discuss kitchen-cleaning responsibilities, you're living in the wrong house.
- someguydave 6y agoI think that is his point.
- afarrell 6y agoyes.
- fooblat 6y agoI find your comment very interesting. Would you mind elaborating on why you would do your next startup this way?
- indymike 6y agoPeople who feel invested in their company will contribute more to that company. It also can be a source of pride and accomplishment. You can be a cofounder and software developer just as someone else can be a cofounder and CEO.
- fakedang 6y agoImo, handing out co-founder titles to software developer employees is way too liberal. I'd rather prefer handing out co-founder titles to people with actual responsibilities and unique titles - CXO level, lead devs, etc.
- someguydave 6y agoto me, cofounders are partners in the business and therefore are part of any major executive decision. Is that your view?
- ZephyrBlu 6y ago> The next startup I do will have a small parking lot full of cofounders You don't think that devalues the title? It also seems like it would destroy any sort of hierarchy.
- indymike 6y agoNope. Most people who are founders have a formal business title as well. Eg. Cofounder and CEO...
- jacquesm 6y agoWhat stops you from doing this retro-actively? If you feel that you were wrong, correct it. If not then you are just virtue signalling at zero cost to yourself.
- andi999 6y agoValuation of shares might be a problem. Normally you cannot just 'give'everybody like 5%, this gift is the taxable (and if your company is worth a cool billion who is foing to pay that)