A founder’s life can be a lonely one, but not necessarily.
The arduous road can be shared with someone you call a co-founder, but at what point does it come to that? When do you invite someone to join you, and for whom do you hold out longer?
Choosing a co-founder is not a science, but like any other relationship, it is based on chemistry. So when do you become a co-founder, and when do you stay single?
Stay a single founder until you meet the one who empowers you and your dream,
The one who admires you for it; and who longs to help give it wings.
Stay a single founder for the one who knows what you don’t,
The one who builds while you pitch; and who teaches you what it means to grow.
“I was just doing something I was very good at… and Steve [Jobs] was much more further-thinking. When I designed good things, sometimes he’d say, “We can sell this.” And we did.” – Steve Wozniak.
Stay a single founder for the one who’s sleepless with you,
The one who hands you more paper when you’re out; and who nurtures your ideas, instead of shutting them down.
Stay a single founder for the one who teaches you patience,
The one who tells you the time isn’t right, and the one who takes you to light-speed when it is.
During the dying days of Dabble, Erin Hopmann and Jess Lybeck turned their startup troubles into a publicity campaign, and despite the unusualness of their approach, they managed to pull though and turn everything around.
Stay a single founder for the one whose energy inspires you,
The one who motivates you to strive on; and the one for whom you want success as much as for yourself.
Stay a single founder for the one who’s not afraid to tell you when you’re wrong,
The one whose tactful words guide you right, and who won’t do it in front of everyone else.
Stay a single founder for the one who’s not afraid of humiliation,
The one who’s not afraid to put their pride on the line, and who’s willing to risk it all with you.
In 1957, Silicon Valley’s Traitorous 8 shocked the world when they quit their jobs; and today 2 of them – Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce – are the co-founders of Intel.
Stay a single founder for the Wozniak to your Jobs, the Gates to your Allen,
The one who’s willing to break all the rules with you, and who won’t abandon you when the chips are down.
Stay a single founder for the one who will stick by you when the startup has failed,
The one who tells you perhaps it’s time to pivot, and the one who make the process all the easier.
Finding a co-founder is not a science, but it is chemistry.
So find the one with whom you can make explosions that will shake the world.
Featured Image Credit: CNBC
