starting up with a cofounder, a partner, a friend - daniel tenner

Starting Up

Daniel TennerCofounder & CTO Woobius

danieltenner.com@swombat

with a cofounder,a partner,a friend

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FAST

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FAST

Unpredictable

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FAST

Unpredictable

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-( :-) :-) :-( :-) :-) :-)

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FAST

Unpredictable

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-( :-) :-) :-( :-) :-) :-)

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Why a cofounder?

Sanity

Stability

Persistence

Perspective

Skills

Horsepower

But...

A better process...

1. Get to know people

2. Find cofounders among them

Or...

start up with an existing friend

But...

So what can you do?

Disagreements

❖ Disagreements can happen when you haven’t discussed how to deal with things in advance.

❖ Disagreements between founders kill start-ups.

❖ Once a major disagreement is reached, it’s hard to think rationally.

Implicit Agreements

What do we both mean by... ?

Don’t assume, check.

Make agreements explicit

How?

Detail your agreements

❖ Explicit numbers

❖ “We’re going to give this 2 years”

❖ “I’ll be happy if we each make £50k/year out of this”

How?

Write things down

❖ Until it’s written down, it’s implicit

❖ People forget what they agreed

❖ Clear writing brings out disagreements

❖ Writing = coding for people

Don’t be afraid of the bad stuff

❖ Embarrassing topics

❖ People’s circumstances change

❖ Shit happens

Don’t make it work at all costs

❖ Grab opportunities - don’t jump off a cliff

❖ If there’s a major disagreement, seriously consider pulling the plug

❖ Trust your gut

In short...

❖ Starting up is awesome

❖ Starting up with a good cofounder is even better

❖ But...

In short...

❖ Make agreements explicit

❖ Detail your agreements

❖ Write things down

❖ Don’t be afraid of discussing negative scenarios

❖ Don’t make it work at all costs

Daniel TennerCofounder, Woobius

danieltenner.com@swombat