Everything starts with capable team
How to find a co-founder for my start-up idea? Whether you are still in idea phase or passed this phase, building the capable team who can build a successful business is one of the biggest challenges that face entrepreneurs in early phase.
Why i need a co-founder
But wait a minute, someone might ask why i even need a co-founder to start my own business?
Here we can say that if you are planning to open a coffee shop or restaurant or even running an online store that could be built with some sort of website builder, at this case you don’t need a co-founder as long as you possess the knowledge and access to fund for running your business. However, when it comes to technology or software products/services, it becomes different.
To build a tech start-up, you will need a wide range of skills, It is not enough to have considerable experience in business. Simply, acquiring the necessary skills to be technically qualified to manage this Service/Product is very time consuming. Vice versa, If you are a technical person and want to build a tech start-up, It will be very challenging and time consuming to play both roles of a business lead and technology lead.
Based on my personal experience of talking to many other entrepreneurs who tried to be a solo-founder, i was able to see that they failed on establishing a successful start-up after running out of cash. This is a reasonable result because solo-founders usually depends a lot on outsourcing tasks that they can’t do or at least tasks they don’t have a time to do. Most of those founders may be not aware that start-ups are dynamic entities. Most probably, you will need to change your business model frequently and go through multiple iterations until you can find a market-fit product. So, it don’t make sense to outsource tasks whether these tasks related to business or technology to third-parties.
The other big advantage of working with co-founder is the high chances of making good plans and decisions:
According to statistics, teams with more than one founder outperform those going it alone by 163%. Two heads and sets of lived experience are generally better than one. Besides, jointly founded businesses are also more credible in the eyes of investors.
When i should start looking for co-founder?
This is a tricky question, and you can’t get a one answer for it. Actually, you can invite a potential co-founder to join you at any stage of the start-up lifecycle. As an example, you might invite a potential co-founder to join you in your quest while you still in idea phase, but most probably the candidate will not be eager to join you unless you have a special business idea and the candidate believe in the idea a lot. Another scenario, that you invite him/her to join when you validated business idea and achieved some traction, this will improve your chances for finding a good co-founder. As you can see, there is a correlation between the easiness of finding a qualified co-founder and the level of progress you made with your start-up.
Moreover, the point on timeline when the co-founder joins the start-up will definitely affect the equity between co-founders. This is also another factor you should consider. As an example, let’s suppose that you are two co-founders; if your co-founder started this business with you in the ultimate beginning (idea phase), it makes sense that equities will be 50% / 50%. while, if the co-founder joined when you made some progress with the start-up, it makes more sense that you have a higher equity as an example 60% / 40% based on which phase is the start-up now.
In short, factors such as: Equities, chances of finding a believer in the idea and the easiness of your life; are the three main factors that you can use to decide when you should search for a co-founder.
The criteria for suitable co-founder
Selecting co-founder is a tough decision, The co-founder will be your partner who shares you the journey to fulfil your dream. Usually, it is tough journey full of challenges. So apart from professional experience, he/she must have the personality and spirit of entrepreneur.
Variety of skills is the key for a successful team. These could be hard skills (such as product development, Product design, marketing or finance) or soft skills (leadership, planning, communication or tenacity). Your co-founder should have the abilities or skills that you lack.
Despite that the variance in skills and characteristics are so beneficial, it is absolutely necessary that you share the same vision and values. As an example, check on the motives of your partner to join this start-up; if he/she is driven primarily by big profits, financial independence, or social impact. Check also on the level of commitment, show much time and effort the other co-founder is willing to dedicate for the company. All these factors will be crucial to imagine the partnership with the potential co-founder and make a proper decision.
Where i can find a co-founder
First, you look among friends and family, you will be lucky if you found among them a one who fits as a business partner, but you must be careful not to let loyalties obscure your sight about your friend’s eligibility for the position.
If you don’t have a qualified friend or family member, start expanding your network especially with those who have a specific set of skills that you are searching for. Use Platforms such as: LinkedIn, Meetup, Eventbrite and FundersHub to broaden your network. Don’t be shy to start conversation with someone you think he/she might fits your criteria for co-founder.
However, it might be relatively easy to find someone among your network with specific set of skills you are search for, but it is still hard to find through these mediums a life-time learner, hard-worker one with solid entrepreneurial spirit.
In this case, you can consider these platforms which will definitely help you in finding your business partner.
Good options if you are available in full-time (only),
Entrepreneur First has a unique business model that suits Entrepreneurs who are starting from scratch. It literally invests in Entrepreneurs. You don’t need to have a business idea or co-founder. All what you need is to have set of skills in some area and the spirit of an entrepreneur. Through their intensive programs, you will be matched with your co-founder, you will find the attractive business idea, validate it and launch it to the market; You will even get money allowance during this period, and you would get a pre-seed fund if you passed the program successfully. Yes, they are asking for quiet large equity in your start-up (10%) (according this answer here) but considering all services that they provide, I would say that it is still awesome deal
AngelList Talent is also a great source if you want to join a start-up as a full-time employee and in the same time have an equity in this start-up. Usually, Companies that hire through this platform has a stronger position, so level of risk of joining a failing start-up is far lower compared with starting a start-up from scratch
Good Options if you are available in full or part-time
1- Funders Hub
FundersHub is an awesome platform where you can publish a co-founder vacancy in your start-up.
On the other side, If you don’t have a start-up or business idea and you want to join as a co-founder in someone’s start-up, you can navigate through the open partnership positions and apply for the start-up you want.
The platform provides a nice user interface where you can collect ahead the key information about the start-up before you apply such as (Business category, current stage of the start-up, Range of offered equity and many more….)
FundersHub is not only for matching co-founders, but it is a space where start-ups can find an experienced mentor and can raise fund through crowd-funding campaign on the platform. It is a unique experience where entrepreneurs can find a solution for all big challenges to start and run their business
Startup School as a platform provided by the most well-known accelerator in the world is a good space where you can fill an application to find a co-founder. When your application approved by the platform, you will receive periodically emails with co-founders who might match your required criteria
Key takeaways
- Co-founders should have different skills and backgrounds, but similar values and vision.
- When it comes to finding a co-founder, start with your immediate circles before moving to online and offline networking. However, you must be cautious to select your co-founder based on efficiency not fillings and both partners must be mature enough to manage business together without confusing it with personal relations.
- You won’t be picking someone on the basis of one chat. It will take time – and experience of working on something together – to know whether you’re a good fit.
- Platforms such as Funders Hub and Startup School might be very helpful to find your co-founder
- If you have nothing at all (except your experience) and you want to be part of start-up, or you have only an idea for start-up check these platforms Funders Hub, or Entrepreneur First, orAngelList Talent
About Ahmed Elsayes
Ahmed is Automation Engineer with multidisciplinary background. However, his main expertise is in technologies related to machine programming and development of web applications. He is also a passionate entrepreneur