How To Get The Right Co-Founder For Your Startup: 5 Useful Tips
Emmanuel Nnaemeka
Food Tech Connect
Getting a co-founder requires some sense of skills and technicality. Successful businesses have thrived on the foundation of collaboration and shared responsibility through the instrumentality of co-foundation.
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As the famous saying goes, ‘two good heads are better than one’. Experts and professionals have advised that in the 21st century and beyond, successful and credible companies with lasting impact will be built by teams of thinkers and innovators. Gone are those days when a single person will build his company around himself, creating a hero culture.
Modern businesses don’t thrive for long on sole-proprietorship or a one-man show. Examples of powerful companies that were founded by co-founders exist in great proportions, and these are going to be the future companies.
In this article, we shall look at how to get the right co-founder for your startup.
Define The Roles For The Ideal Co-Founder
As the founder and leading initiator of your startup, it is advisable not to start your choice based on friendship or family. Bias might set in. It’s important to look at what you truly want in your startup, these existing gaps, and the best candidate that can fill in that gap. Therefore, look at the strength and weaknesses of your startup and design a role that can best fit it. If you’re the techy guy, good with the coding and building, but you lack the salesmanship prowess or managerial talent, it’s advisable to get someone with these skills.
Look Out For Shared Values
This is one of the most important considerations when choosing a co-founder. It is advisable to do your due diligence and background check on the person(s) you want to make your co-founders. LinkedIn is a good place to start as you can scrutinize the person’s work and academic experience and accomplishments. Furthermore, you can go as far as making inquiries from co-founder’s past employers even before you approach them to seek their partnership. Also, ensure that your ideal co-founder loves what you’re doing and sees himself as part of fulfilling the startup’s vision and mission.
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Milk Your Social Network
Another likely place to get an ideal co-founder is within your social network, both off and on social media. Most co-founders found themselves in social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Therefore, join online groups where you can easily spot people with similar values. Offline, attending summits, industry conferences, and local business organizations are avenues for networking. Just as your network looks for investors, the same energy should be applied when searching for a co-founder.
Relocate To A More Likely Geography
In Nigeria, you are more likely to get a high-tech co-founder in Lagos than elsewhere. Therefore, it’s advisable to set up your startup in an urban city like Lagos or Abuja where talents abound. Also, relocating to Lagos gives you the needed ecosystem where you can easily access investors, programmers, and customers.
Decide Who’s The Boss
Among co-founders, there must be the one who’s the boss and makes the final decision. It’s advisable that when bringing in co-founders, negotiate and document roles early, including who stays at the helms of affairs as the boss. You must do away with excitement and ask hard questions about who is the CEO.
Decide The Rationale For Investment, Equity And Interests
The question of how much investment, interests, and equity your co-founders own in the business should be discussed, agreed upon, and legally documented. If your co-founder is bringing a certain percentage of the capital, his ROI, and percentage ownership should be paramount to avoid the questions of equity and profit-sharing.
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