It is a priori better to have a real co-founder than to go it alone. I know now from experience. The problem is that most prospective co-founders are not real, hence co-founder conflict is the leading cause of startup death, as it nearly was for mine.
What are Real Co-Founders?
In my mind, there are just five universal criteria:
- You genuinely feel that each person is an irreplaceable, non-substitutable requirement for success
- You each believe that building this startup together is the absolute best thing you can do with your lives now and for the next number of years.
- You have aligned expectations on what success means, and what it will take from each of you to achieve it. You speak up when the other is messing up.
- You are each not only willing — but eager — to put the startup ahead of your personal life and all other priorities until success is achieved. This is not to say that real co-founders should not have a life outside the Company – some balance is absolutely critical. But the startup must clearly be the top priority by a longshot.
- You like each other as people.
If even one of these criteria is not met, you are Faux Co-Founders. And Houston, you have a problem: Entering into a Faux Co-Founder relationship is categorically worse than going it alone.