You know, I used to take the meaning of the word "co-founder" quite literally. I used to think that the word referred to individuals who had somehow connected with each other, discovered that their abilities dovetailed perfectly, and so decided to go into business together on equal grounds so as to provide adequate solutions to real-world problems.
Rather naive, I must say, to have accepted it so literally, because as I've since found out, co-founder seems to have taken a whole meaning altogether. I can't say for sure about other industries or businesses, but for the start up sector... can I say that in, and of, the start up sector, being a co-founder is very much a hunt for the best person to partner up with? Not only that, but the best person must also carry upon his shoulders a host of other abilities that prove his capability and aptitude to be a co-founder.
I've heard this a couple of times at various places. Sometimes I hear it at networking events- a dime a dozen there are in the start up sector, sometimes I hear it when meeting up with people who run interesting businesses and are brimming with great solutions, and then sometimes I overhear it when I'm at Starbucks being a digital nomad for the day.
Let me see if I get it right.
A co-founder must first and foremost have very special expertise. On top of that, he should have amassed years of experience in his very special expertise. Then, he should have great passion for what he does, and what his other co-founders do. In other words, he must be very, very passionate about the solution that they (all of them) are going to provide, and they must be willing to slog for it, because, hey, passion and drive and discipline to see it come alive. Then it seems to be an extra bonus if the co-founder, with all his years of experience, or his intelligence, or his special skillsets, be willing to come work together with one or two people whom he has never met prior, and literally work from ground zero.
Frankly, I think all of it is still quite fine. After all, if one wishes to leave the corporations and venture into the start up sector, that's the culture one has to adapt to. You've got to be prepared that you're going to be independent. Very, very independent. There's going to be no team for you to work with, and there's going to be no team to take the fall should it fall. You're on your own. You wrap the functions of a corporation into a single employee- yourself. You are the accountant, the bookkeeper, the marketer, the administrator, the researcher, the salesperson. You handle it all. There's no one to delegate it to, you just gotta learn to deal with it all, if you don't already know how to do it. There's no other way around it- not that I see anyway.
But ther'es another role.
That of the financier, or the financial controller. I don't mean that you're controlling the finances. I mean that you're getting the finances. You're either getting them from your savings (a sign of real dedication and commitment) or you know of someone who will finance you on this journey. Whoever it is, whether it be yourself, or someone else, must have deep pockets. Deep enough to invest in your start up, deep enough to pay you your salary and deep enough to facilitate your pitch for pre-seed funding.
Still, that's fine. It's part of starting a business in just about anywhere.
But what takes the cake is when people tell me that they're looking for a co-founder, and they want the person with everything above to be able to join them in their x-year old start up, and oh, he or she won't be getting any remuneration, not even from the pre-seed amount, because hey, "it's been invested in the product."
Where in the high heavens, I want to ask them, does a person like that exist? Where is there going to be someone who is intelligent, who has a very special set of skills, who has some years of experience, and who will take a bold step of faith with people whom they do not even know? What is the person going to base his trust on? On the word of the other people in the start up? On the supposed fact that his contributions will be duly remunerated when the funding comes in?
I'll be straightforward here. I've worked with the best in my industry. Best, meaning, that their career backgrounds are no short of spectacular. They're not the one and only one, but they are good at what they do, they problem-solve and they have a very special set of skills. And I can assure you, none of them will be happy to give up what they're currently working on- they're always working on something- and then cross over to my side and do it for free.
The best who know their value will simply not do that, and if you want to be perceived of value to them, it is best that you don't offer them such a whimsical, fluffy deal too. They who have been in the business for years, they who have amassed all these years of experience, will easily cut through all your bulls***.
That you're facing a very severe gap of which you cannot disclose, that you're running on an extremely tight deadline, that this gap will affect your current funding, and your subsequent round of funding, that you need the expertise from the top in this industry to seal the gap, and you want all their efforts and experience to be contributed for free.
Rather naive, I must say, to have accepted it so literally, because as I've since found out, co-founder seems to have taken a whole meaning altogether. I can't say for sure about other industries or businesses, but for the start up sector... can I say that in, and of, the start up sector, being a co-founder is very much a hunt for the best person to partner up with? Not only that, but the best person must also carry upon his shoulders a host of other abilities that prove his capability and aptitude to be a co-founder.
I've heard this a couple of times at various places. Sometimes I hear it at networking events- a dime a dozen there are in the start up sector, sometimes I hear it when meeting up with people who run interesting businesses and are brimming with great solutions, and then sometimes I overhear it when I'm at Starbucks being a digital nomad for the day.
Let me see if I get it right.
A co-founder must first and foremost have very special expertise. On top of that, he should have amassed years of experience in his very special expertise. Then, he should have great passion for what he does, and what his other co-founders do. In other words, he must be very, very passionate about the solution that they (all of them) are going to provide, and they must be willing to slog for it, because, hey, passion and drive and discipline to see it come alive. Then it seems to be an extra bonus if the co-founder, with all his years of experience, or his intelligence, or his special skillsets, be willing to come work together with one or two people whom he has never met prior, and literally work from ground zero.
Frankly, I think all of it is still quite fine. After all, if one wishes to leave the corporations and venture into the start up sector, that's the culture one has to adapt to. You've got to be prepared that you're going to be independent. Very, very independent. There's going to be no team for you to work with, and there's going to be no team to take the fall should it fall. You're on your own. You wrap the functions of a corporation into a single employee- yourself. You are the accountant, the bookkeeper, the marketer, the administrator, the researcher, the salesperson. You handle it all. There's no one to delegate it to, you just gotta learn to deal with it all, if you don't already know how to do it. There's no other way around it- not that I see anyway.
But ther'es another role.
That of the financier, or the financial controller. I don't mean that you're controlling the finances. I mean that you're getting the finances. You're either getting them from your savings (a sign of real dedication and commitment) or you know of someone who will finance you on this journey. Whoever it is, whether it be yourself, or someone else, must have deep pockets. Deep enough to invest in your start up, deep enough to pay you your salary and deep enough to facilitate your pitch for pre-seed funding.
Still, that's fine. It's part of starting a business in just about anywhere.
But what takes the cake is when people tell me that they're looking for a co-founder, and they want the person with everything above to be able to join them in their x-year old start up, and oh, he or she won't be getting any remuneration, not even from the pre-seed amount, because hey, "it's been invested in the product."
Where in the high heavens, I want to ask them, does a person like that exist? Where is there going to be someone who is intelligent, who has a very special set of skills, who has some years of experience, and who will take a bold step of faith with people whom they do not even know? What is the person going to base his trust on? On the word of the other people in the start up? On the supposed fact that his contributions will be duly remunerated when the funding comes in?
I'll be straightforward here. I've worked with the best in my industry. Best, meaning, that their career backgrounds are no short of spectacular. They're not the one and only one, but they are good at what they do, they problem-solve and they have a very special set of skills. And I can assure you, none of them will be happy to give up what they're currently working on- they're always working on something- and then cross over to my side and do it for free.
The best who know their value will simply not do that, and if you want to be perceived of value to them, it is best that you don't offer them such a whimsical, fluffy deal too. They who have been in the business for years, they who have amassed all these years of experience, will easily cut through all your bulls***.
That you're facing a very severe gap of which you cannot disclose, that you're running on an extremely tight deadline, that this gap will affect your current funding, and your subsequent round of funding, that you need the expertise from the top in this industry to seal the gap, and you want all their efforts and experience to be contributed for free.