2 ms·
Having a long list of skilled friends and colleagues is categorically not the same as having potential co-founder material. I dated a whole heck of a lot of gir
by beat 13y ago
Having a long list of skilled friends and colleagues is categorically not the same as having potential co-founder material. I dated a whole heck of a lot of girls before I married one. If you're not some wet-behind-the-ears kid fresh out of college and you've built a real network, your network consists of experienced grownups who likely have families, standards of living, and career paths. It's not easy to get those people to give up their current velocity and expose their lives to the risks and challenges of a startup.
Of all the friends and colleagues I've developed over two decades in the industry, I have two that I've seriously considered for co-founders, and I can't pry either of them loose. One is working with me on the company as my IP lawyer, just not as a co-founder. The other I'm hoping to get as an early hire when the company is farther along. There are lots of other friends with great skills that I won't consider for co-founder because I don't think they'd be a good fit, for reasons that are personal for each one.
This isn't a reflection on me or on the idea. It's a reflection on the reality that real grownups with real commitments can't always just drop everything and start anew. And these friends are valuable to me because they're experienced and I have worked with them before, and they're happy and honored to help out as advisors and sounding boards.
I can tell you from hard experience that there's a good reason the industry is down on solo founders. It's incredibly hard. But looking for co-founders isn't necessarily a good option. If you can't find one right away, looking is time-consuming and difficult with no guarantee of success, not if you have standards. Which is a better use of my time - developing product, or looking around for someone to help me? And by the time I'm far enough along that it becomes much easier to bring someone in, are they co-founders, or hires?