Talking to your Cofounder - Not Just a Walk in the Park

What are you doing to make sure you tackle the hard discussions with your co-founders in a healthy, productive manner?

It's so important because assuming that everything is going to be 'fine' with your new co-founder –because they have been "an amazing” best friend or close sibling all this time already – can lead to disagreements and problems that don’t get addressed until it's too late. And that’s when some of the most acrimonious and destructive business divorces take place.

But even if your co-founder wasn't your maid of honor or best man, the point is still the same: you want to set up and stick to effective practices that let cofounders productively vent the sale air and get all their issues with your shared business onto the table.

At a recent Founder’s Friday event in NYC, I heard two great examples of co-founders who are getting it right.

🍴 Tyler Strand at Air, whose platform helps creative teams maximize their productivity, sets a quarterly dinner outing with his co-founder; they take turns picking the restaurant. Before they meet, they each write out what amounts to an essay about all issues they see going on in the business and with each other. And then during the meal, each cofounder shares what he’s prepared, and then they debate, pick apart, and really engage with what has been brought to the table.

🚶‍♂️ As another example, Kanat Sharipove, co-founder of EdTech startup ABCHESS, schedules bi-monthly walks with his cofounder. And it’s not meant to be any “walk in the park.” To paraphrase Kanat, the whole point of their walks is to be at least somewhat confrontational, because “if you don’t have an argument for a long time, it usually means one of the founders is very likely holding something back.”

I don’t need to be the one to tell you that it’s a long and perilous road to exit. It’s so important that your co-founders are partners on your journey, rather than another obstacle.

If you’re a startup founder who regularly schedules these kinds of bracing discussions with your co-founder(s), I’d love to hear what’s working for you.

#FoundersFriday #foundersagreements #startuplaw