5 ms·

Letter to a Co-Founder

42 points by kingsidharth 15y ago

rrrazdan 15y ago
You can't fix a typo is very directly related to how you run a startup. Not eating a burger 'properly' is not.
bdfh42 15y ago
If anyone were to send me this I would be forced to spend the next two nights trawling through their commits to find out just what it was they screwed up - and then I would look for a new gig.
Udo 15y ago
Disregarding the weird tone, the letter makes some interesting points. None of us is the best person out there. This whole notion of someone out there being the best programmer (or person, or whatever) is fallacious. While there are certainly many degrees between "awesome" and "failing", it's important to recognize that either you're indeed awesome at what you're doing right now or it's time to move onto something else. Of course, the definition of "awesome" is completely subjective so you have a lot of room for introspection there. That’s irrelevant! Because we are best for each other. This is an important sentiment, certainly one of the most crucial ones in a co-founder relationship. I have seen what it looks like when it's not working out: we were friends before the startup, we liked to talk about crazy ideas all day. But a while into the startup, all we talked about was money and disappointment. This created an atmosphere of misery and failure, long before the actual failure of the company. If I were to do a startup again today, I would look for this kind of synergy the author is describing. It's important. It's not enough to just be a bunch of dudes hacking away at stuff.
- d3x 15y ago
  "It's important. It's not enough to just be a bunch of dudes hacking away at stuff." I Disagree. This is the most productive environment for me. The issue is that people set out to start a company and not solve a problem. A bunch of dudes siting around hacking to start a company might not be the best idea but a bunch of dudes sitting around trying to solve a problem is the best way to start.
  - Udo 15y ago
    I don't see the point of having cofounders in that case. If it's really just a bunch of guys hacking away at stuff, you might as well just hire them. I admit I'm on the fence about the whole "you have to have a cofounder" thing to begin with - my own experience with having a cofounder hasn't been that great (it's not his fault, or mine, it was just a bad dynamic in general). > a bunch of dudes sitting around trying to solve a problem is the best way to start I totally agree. Without a great and creative team you're screwed. This article isn't about those aspects, though, isn't it? It's about what else a cofounder should bring to the table that moves the company forward.
urbanjunkie 15y ago
I struggled, but ultimately succeeded in not throwing up in my mouth whilst reading this.
twidlit 15y ago
In the words of Señor Chang. GAYYYY! Seriously, the letter is a GREAT idea but the gushing and sensuality will make MY co-founder think i'm in love with him or something. Tone it down a bit and it will be perfect and much needed too.
- kingsidharth 15y ago
  I got that from a lot of people, trust me it's cultural.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
- kabuks 15y ago
  Really?! It's almost 2012 and you're still using 'GAY' as a derogatory term.
  - true_religion 15y ago
    Gay, Straight, Bisexual, Other... I doubt anyone would want to portray their sexuality to be something other than it actually is. (Small text: I have been known to be overly generous at times. Is this one of those times?)
  - twidlit 15y ago
    its from the TV show, Community. I was hoping the Senor Chang preface was enough of a clue that it was a pop/geek culture reference...
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  I'm assuming it was deliberately written like this for comic effect.
n9com 15y ago
lols, were you high when you wrote this? how on earth does this make front page on HN?
- kingsidharth 15y ago
  Because your's is not the only point of view.
Achshar 15y ago
I am not sure if i would really want to be sentimental with my co-founder. It's not a (romantic) relationship we are in. I know making such a letter with "brogramming" attitude would be quiet opposite of this but I believe any such letter should be a balance of "feelings" and get-things-done ("brograming") attitude. This seems to lean a bit on the "feelings" side.
revorad 15y ago
This reminded me of Max Levchin's talk at the last Startup School. It has some really funny anecdotes and thoughts about co-founders - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBWjuXO6kY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBWjuXO6kY
problemmaker 15y ago
Great letter, if your aim was to bed your co-founder. Honestly, as a co-founder of a tech company myself, receiving something like this would freak me out. No hate to anyone homosexual or otherwise, but lay off the cheese, please? King-sidharth, are you rather a 'Queen'?
paulnelligan 15y ago
Let this be a lesson: never write a letter to a co-founder while drunk or high!!
robjohnson 15y ago
Well...that was different.
- eps 15y ago
  That's an emerging new genre - the startup fan fiction.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
darkmethod 15y ago
The take-aways are: 0. no one is perfect. 1. co-founders keep each other on task. 2. relationships and perspectives matter. I'm grateful for my co-founder too, however I'll be sending him this for a laugh which I realize is not oa's intent. But then again, doing so may just build that relationship that much stronger which is the oa's intent. Ironic, no?

42 points by kingsidharth 15y ago

You can't fix a typo is very directly related to how you run a startup. Not eating a burger 'properly' is not.

If anyone were to send me this I would be forced to spend the next two nights trawling through their commits to find out just what it was they screwed up - and then I would look for a new gig.

Udo 15y ago

Disregarding the weird tone, the letter makes some interesting points. None of us is the best person out there. This whole notion of someone out there being the best programmer (or person, or whatever) is fallacious. While there are certainly many degrees between "awesome" and "failing", it's important to recognize that either you're indeed awesome at what you're doing right now or it's time to move onto something else. Of course, the definition of "awesome" is completely subjective so you have a lot of room for introspection there. That’s irrelevant! Because we are best for each other. This is an important sentiment, certainly one of the most crucial ones in a co-founder relationship. I have seen what it looks like when it's not working out: we were friends before the startup, we liked to talk about crazy ideas all day. But a while into the startup, all we talked about was money and disappointment. This created an atmosphere of misery and failure, long before the actual failure of the company. If I were to do a startup again today, I would look for this kind of synergy the author is describing. It's important. It's not enough to just be a bunch of dudes hacking away at stuff.

d3x 15y ago
"It's important. It's not enough to just be a bunch of dudes hacking away at stuff." I Disagree. This is the most productive environment for me. The issue is that people set out to start a company and not solve a problem. A bunch of dudes siting around hacking to start a company might not be the best idea but a bunch of dudes sitting around trying to solve a problem is the best way to start.
- Udo 15y ago
  I don't see the point of having cofounders in that case. If it's really just a bunch of guys hacking away at stuff, you might as well just hire them. I admit I'm on the fence about the whole "you have to have a cofounder" thing to begin with - my own experience with having a cofounder hasn't been that great (it's not his fault, or mine, it was just a bad dynamic in general). > a bunch of dudes sitting around trying to solve a problem is the best way to start I totally agree. Without a great and creative team you're screwed. This article isn't about those aspects, though, isn't it? It's about what else a cofounder should bring to the table that moves the company forward.

urbanjunkie 15y ago

I struggled, but ultimately succeeded in not throwing up in my mouth whilst reading this.

twidlit 15y ago

In the words of Señor Chang. GAYYYY! Seriously, the letter is a GREAT idea but the gushing and sensuality will make MY co-founder think i'm in love with him or something. Tone it down a bit and it will be perfect and much needed too.

kingsidharth 15y ago
I got that from a lot of people, trust me it's cultural.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
kabuks 15y ago
Really?! It's almost 2012 and you're still using 'GAY' as a derogatory term.
- true_religion 15y ago
  Gay, Straight, Bisexual, Other... I doubt anyone would want to portray their sexuality to be something other than it actually is. (Small text: I have been known to be overly generous at times. Is this one of those times?)
- twidlit 15y ago
  its from the TV show, Community. I was hoping the Senor Chang preface was enough of a clue that it was a pop/geek culture reference...
jiggy2011 15y ago
I'm assuming it was deliberately written like this for comic effect.

n9com 15y ago

lols, were you high when you wrote this? how on earth does this make front page on HN?

kingsidharth 15y ago
Because your's is not the only point of view.

Achshar 15y ago

I am not sure if i would really want to be sentimental with my co-founder. It's not a (romantic) relationship we are in. I know making such a letter with "brogramming" attitude would be quiet opposite of this but I believe any such letter should be a balance of "feelings" and get-things-done ("brograming") attitude. This seems to lean a bit on the "feelings" side.

revorad 15y ago

This reminded me of Max Levchin's talk at the last Startup School. It has some really funny anecdotes and thoughts about co-founders - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBWjuXO6kY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBWjuXO6kY

problemmaker 15y ago

Great letter, if your aim was to bed your co-founder. Honestly, as a co-founder of a tech company myself, receiving something like this would freak me out. No hate to anyone homosexual or otherwise, but lay off the cheese, please? King-sidharth, are you rather a 'Queen'?

paulnelligan 15y ago

Let this be a lesson: never write a letter to a co-founder while drunk or high!!

robjohnson 15y ago

Well...that was different.

eps 15y ago
That's an emerging new genre - the startup fan fiction.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

darkmethod 15y ago

The take-aways are: 0. no one is perfect. 1. co-founders keep each other on task. 2. relationships and perspectives matter. I'm grateful for my co-founder too, however I'll be sending him this for a laugh which I realize is not oa's intent. But then again, doing so may just build that relationship that much stronger which is the oa's intent. Ironic, no?