The CoffeeSpace Blog
Tips, Stories, and Updates on Entrepreneurial and Cofounder Journeys
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August 23, 2024
Hi CoffeeSpacers, it's Hazim here from CoffeeSpace!
Today's August update is a big one – from user and activity milestones to demographic breakdowns, feature rollouts + plans, and the launch of our "CoffeeSpace Success Stories" series, we have a lot in store. Let’s dive right in!
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Partnerships are one of the main ways we’re growing CoffeeSpace, and we’ve just added 3 amazing new partners recently!
Our partner Antler will soon be opening their founder residency applications for the Fall 2024 cohort – as before CoffeeSpace members will get an expedited review through our referrals. More on this in the next update!
That's all for this edition, thanks for reading all the way through!
Wishing you a fantastic rest of the week, and as always, feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback :)
Cheers,
Hazim, Carin & Fauzan
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August 20, 2024
In this edition, we dive into the origins and evolution of Reddit, the platform that has redefined online communities and become a staple of the Internet. Join us as we uncover the key milestones, challenges, and lessons learned by Reddit’s co-founders, Steve Huffman (@redditspez) and Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian), on their path to building a social media giant.
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Reddit, also known as “the front page of the Internet,” has become a central hub for information, entertainment, and social interaction, with millions of active users worldwide sharing content and engaging on the platform daily. This dynamic social media platform serves as an online forum where users can share and discuss topics of their interest.
Founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, Reddit has grown into one of the most influential online communities, boasting an estimated monthly organic traffic of 5.5 billion, ranking fourth after YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Known for its unique structure of "subreddits," which are individual forums dedicated to specific interests or categories, Reddit allows users to submit content, engage in discussions, and vote on posts, creating a community-driven experience that prioritizes current and relevant content catering to all walks of life.
An interesting vantage point to explore is the journey of the founders—from building and launching the platform to becoming a unicorn and going public earlier this year. Here are some key milestones and conflicts that made Reddit the social media giant it is today and what lessons we can all take away from it.
In 2005, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman, two college friends, initially had the idea of MyMobileMenu in mind. This app was intended for online order-taking, and they pitched it to Paul Graham, who was in charge at Y Combinator. Although the idea was shot down by Graham, he guided the two friends to pivot towards what would eventually become “the front page of the Internet.” This is how Reddit joined Y Combinator's first batch of startups in the summer of 2005. Enrolling in Y Combinator with this new idea, the duo was funded to make their vision a reality. Huffman became the CEO, while Ohanian served as the executive chairman. The founders worked tirelessly to build the platform, even creating thousands of fake accounts initially to make their site appear more populated. Later in 2005, Christopher Slowe joined as the company’s first employee, taking charge of ongoing development and new features, alongside Huffman, who had built the platform from scratch.
January 2006 marked a turning point for Reddit. During this time, the company merged with Aaron Swartz's Infogami, a company he had founded. This merger brought Swartz, an entrepreneur and Internet hacktivist, on board as a co-founder of Reddit. The merger also led to the establishment of a new parent company called "Not a Bug" that encompassed both startups. While there are debates over whether Swartz should be considered a co-founder, some media outlets reported him as an equal owner.
Huffman and Swartz took on the roles of programmers, while Ohanian handled business development and marketing tasks. However, tensions soon arose between the introverted Swartz and the two University of Virginia graduates, Huffman and Ohanian. After an initial burst of productivity working together, the situation became toxic, and it was mutually agreed that selling the company was the best option.
In 2006, just a year after its founding, Reddit was acquired by Condé Nast Publications for an undisclosed amount, reported to be between $10 million and $20 million. Following the acquisition, Aaron Swartz was let go from his position in 2007, while Ohanian and Huffman continued to work closely with Reddit as members of its board of directors. However, in 2009, both Ohanian and Huffman left the company—Ohanian to build Breadpig and Huffman to co-found the travel search platform Hipmunk with Adam Goldstein. Shortly after Huffman’s departure Slowe also left the company in 2010 to join Huffman in developing Hipmunk.
After leaving Reddit in 2009, Ohanian returned to the company in 2014 after Yishan Wong’s resignation as CEO, taking on the role of executive chairman. During this period, the company also raised a $50 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz, as announced in October 2014. Ohanian helped guide Reddit’s growth and development, steering it toward its full potential of scaling. However, in 2018, he stepped back from the company to focus on investing.
In 2015, Reddit’s interim CEO Ellen Pao faced significant challenges as many users expressed frustration with the new direction of Reddit. A petition with over 160,000 signatures called for Pao to step down as CEO. Huffman returned to Reddit shortly after, replacing Pao as CEO to lead the now-independent company. August 2015 also saw Reddit hiring and announcing their first CTO, Marty Weiner, who was a founding engineer at Pinterest.
Ohanian wasn’t the only one to leave and later return to the company. In May 2017, Slowe rejoined Reddit as CTO, tasked with overhauling the platform’s technology and infrastructure. His efforts included the site redesign and mobile app development, which were crucial for supporting Reddit’s exponential growth in user base. As of 2024, Slowe still serves as Reddit’s CTO, continuing to innovate and enhance the user experience on the platform.
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests swept across the country, Ohanian’s concerns about hateful content on Reddit grew. He advocated for banning groups on Reddit that supported discrimination, while others at the company, including Huffman, were reluctant to take such action. The disagreement over content moderation created a rift between Ohanian and Huffman. Ultimately, Ohanian resigned from Reddit's board in protest of the company’s lax guidelines on hate speech, publicly asking the board to fill his seat with a Black person. Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel was chosen as his replacement.
In 2024, as Reddit prepared to go public, the company filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Surprisingly, the filing did not mention Ohanian, despite his significant role in the company's history. The omission was noted by many observers and analysts. Huffman, in a letter included in the filing, referred to Reddit's founding using plural pronouns but never mentioned Ohanian by name.
When asked about his exclusion from Reddit’s IPO filing, Ohanian responded with a shrug emoticon. The two co-founders, who were once close friends, have barely spoken since their falling out in 2020. In an interview with Wired, Ohanian mentioned that he hadn’t thought much about Huffman since his departure from the board.
When Reddit went public on March 24, 2024, it targeted a valuation of approximately $6.5 billion. This was a significant decrease from the $10 billion valuation it had reached during a funding round in 2021. The IPO was priced at $34 per share, allowing the company to raise about $750 million through the sale of shares—a cautious approach in a challenging market environment for tech IPOs.
Reddit’s current market capitalization has since increased to around $10 billion. This growth can be attributed to various factors, including strategic partnerships, particularly with Google for data licensing, and a resurgence in interest in tech stocks driven by current trends in artificial intelligence and online advertising.
The contrast between the initial IPO valuation and the current market cap highlights Reddit’s resilience and potential for growth in a competitive landscape. The rise in market value post-IPO indicates investor confidence and the company’s ability to adapt to market demands, despite early skepticism surrounding its profitability and business model.
The relationship between Reddit co-founders Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman has been a rollercoaster ride, marked by both collaboration and conflict. From their early days as college friends working on MyMobileMenu to their successful launch of Reddit and its subsequent acquisition by Condé Nast, the two entrepreneurs have left an indelible mark on the company's history. However, their differing views on content moderation and the handling of hateful content ultimately led to a public falling out, with Ohanian resigning from the board in 2020. As Reddit has now gone public, the exclusion of Ohanian from the IPO filing serves as a reminder of the complex and often tumultuous relationships that can develop between startup founders. Despite their differences, both Ohanian and Huffman have played pivotal roles in shaping Reddit into the influential platform it is today, offering valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs navigating the fast-paced world of technology and innovation.
If you’re inspired by this story and want to start exploring your own ideas and find someone to get off the ground with, join us at CoffeeSpace.
Banner image credit to Vectonauta on Freepik
August 13, 2024
In our first feature, we're excited to highlight the remarkable journey of two CoffeeSpace users, Ihsan and Alexander, who came together to build Scenario, an app that allows people to explore their life interests and achieve them financially.
Their experience exemplifies the power of connection, demonstrating how CoffeeSpace can spark meaningful conversations and foster partnerships that lead to innovative cofounding ventures. Join us as we delve into Ihsan and Alexander’s cofounder story, exploring the challenges they faced, the milestones they achieved, and the lessons they learned while working together after matching on CoffeeSpace.
Ihsan Salleh, cofounder and CEO of Scenario, is a data scientist who has worked at Hulu, Sony, and SmartCredit, focusing on consumer marketing and financial algorithms. Alexander Parker, cofounder and Head of Design, brings 18 years of industry experience in design and advertising across B2B and direct-to-consumer brands, including work with Credit Karma, Earnest, and Robinhood. Together, they form the dynamic duo driving innovation at Scenario.
Ihsan: Alexander and I are cofounders of Scenario, a life design service. Let's start with the problem we're solving: How do we alleviate the anxiety and stress that comes from uncertainty around life choices and finances?
A question we love to ask is: "How do you deal with the anxiety and stress of not knowing what you want?"
That’s where the idea of "scenarios" comes in. Life isn’t just about having options; it’s about creating meaningful scenarios that help guide your decisions and help you achieve your life interests. That’s the vision behind what we’re building with Scenario. To summarize, Scenario is an interactive and visual app to explore life scenarios and financially achieve your dreams.
Currently in the pre-seed stage, we built several MVPs, tested several distribution strategies, and are now focused on building and developing the final product, leveraging our insights to strategically partner with credit unions.
Alexander: I was just looking through different scenarios of my own life, thinking, “Do I want to join a startup?” Ihsan reached out on CoffeeSpace by chance, and we matched. After that, we went straight into business, and we had interviews going over the possibilities of working together, our complementary abilities, and how we wanted to move things forward.
We started working right off the bat, just to get some stuff done. And through working together on several small projects, we realized that it was a good relationship, and we had an awesome dynamic. A more serious discussion about being cofounders together came shortly thereafter.
Ihsan actually came to Seattle to meet with me, and after interview rounds with his advisor team and investors, the deal was sealed.
Ihsan: For two years, I pondered questions like “Do I need a cofounder?” and “What kind of cofounder?”. After receiving feedback, it became clear that this startup needed an exceptional technologist. Throughout my search, I’ve rejected several candidates who wanted to be cofounders. Their academic qualifications didn't matter as much because I was also looking for a creative thinker — someone who thinks outside the box. And finally, I found Alexander on CoffeeSpace, who checked all the boxes.
Two shortcuts that swiftly accelerated our journey to be cofounders after meeting on CoffeeSpace:
Alexander: To me, a great product idea is more important than the credentials of who’s trying to build it. A great resume isn’t everything when looking for someone you want to work with long-term, let alone start a company with. I met a lot of talented people but wasn’t committed. When Ihsan reached out and I learned about Scenario, I instantly saw the potential of his vision.
Alexander: Filtering by what you are looking for is a feature that is very easy to use and intuitive. I love that the app is more exclusive, with profiles going through an approval process; it seemed like whoever CoffeeSpace initially had in there was already really useful to start the cofounder search.
This brings me to my next point, which is that I think that there are more interesting and seasoned people on CoffeeSpace compared to other platforms where there are often younger and fresher profiles who haven’t sorted out why they want to be founders. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the candidate pool on CoffeeSpace seemed more mature for what and who I was looking for.
Ihsan: Less is more, and that’s what I appreciate about CoffeeSpace. The daily recommendations help filter through users, so there’s less for me to sift through. The prompts are also a great addition; they reveal people’s interests and personalities, which helps narrow down the candidate pool.
What I love most is the LinkedIn integration. It’s a great shortcut and super straightforward, unlike other cofounder matching platforms. This feature accelerated the search process because everyone’s already familiar with LinkedIn, and I could easily tap into their profiles to find the information I needed.
Alexander: Know what you want, pick your aspiration and stick to it. Evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses beforehand. What’s important is the maturity that comes from knowing what you lack as a professional in your career and what you need from others.
Ihsan: The first step before diving into a startup is to clearly identify the problem area that interests you; in fact, it’s even more important than the solution itself. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a solution in search of a problem that may not need solving.
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July 20, 2024
In the fluctuating startup ecosystem where uncertainty looms, finding a suitable cofounder is crucial. A cofounder can either propel your company forward or steer it into troubled waters. Before committing to a partnership, founders typically engage in a trial period to assess if the potential cofounder aligns with the company’s values, culture, and pace.
A trial period is an agreed-upon duration during which a potential cofounder works under specific conditions. This could involve working on a side project for the startup or managing a part of the company alongside the founder. The goal is to evaluate whether the partnership should continue.
Trial periods are invaluable for quickly determining if a cofounder is a good fit. They provide insight into the working dynamics between founders and allow for an evaluation of the potential cofounder’s skills, work ethic, and compatibility with the startup’s mission. This mutual understanding can save time and resources in the long run.
The primary goals of a trial period include:
A structured approach is essential for evaluating a potential cofounder effectively. Here’s what to include and test during the trial period:
By structuring the trial period to include these elements, you can effectively assess the potential cofounder’s skills, work ethic, and compatibility with your startup’s mission and culture.
A well-structured trial period document helps ensure transparency and alignment. Be clear on non-negotiable aspects and open to communication for resolving any issues. Good luck with your cofounder trial period. If you’re still searching for the ideal candidate, CoffeeSpace offers a Tinder/Hinge-like platform for finding cofounders. Explore more on our app or try our playground for a hands-on experience.
July 1, 2024
Hey everyone, it's Hazim here from CoffeeSpace!
It’s hard to believe we’re already in the second half of the year! The first half has been a true roller coaster for us, and we're glad to have you with us on this crazy ride!
It has been a pretty eventful month for us and I'm excited to unpack how these weeks unfolded and share what's coming ahead.
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Many of you mentioned that it would've been nice to have a feel of how the app works on the website before signing up, so we're building what we call The Playground where people can see synthetic recommendations (it's our Buildspace S5 'toy')
Partnerships are one of the main ways we’re growing CoffeeSpace, and we’ve just added 3 amazing new partners recently!
Our partner Antler will soon be opening their founder residency applications for the Fall 2024 cohort – as before CoffeeSpace members will get an expedited review through our referrals. More on this in the next update!
That's all from us this time – to those in the US, we wish you a happy 4th of July, and to everyone else in the community, have a great week! As always, feel free to reach out with any questions and feedback :)
Cheers,
Hazim & Carin
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July 1, 2024
As an entrepreneur embarking on a startup journey, one of the most critical decisions you'll face is the choice of funding model. The success of your venture often hinges on your ability to secure the right financing strategy, and especially with your product or service in development, securing adequate funds could alleviate your burden of worrying about operations, and put more focus on developing and pushing out your MVP or growing your startup. In this article, we'll explore the two primary funding options that are available to most startups: Venture Capital (VC) and Bootstrapping, highlighting the key differences and considerations to help you make a better and more informed decision.
Venture Capital or also known as its abbreviation VC, is a form of private equity investment provided by specialized firms or funds to emerging companies with high growth potential. These VC firms invest in startups in exchange for an equity stake or ownership in the company. This type of funding allows startups to access significant resources to accelerate their startup’s growth.
VC funding is typically categorized into different stages, such as pre-seed, seed, and early-stage, each with its own set of requirements and investment criteria that varies across different VC firms. Securing VC investment is a highly competitive process, as startups vie for the attention and backing of these firms.
As VC is an external investment, their firms raise capital from other institutions to then invest in high-growth startups. It is a high risk high return investment, but it is not without its offerings of more resources and professional help or connections to maximize the success rate of their investments.
Bootstrapping, on the other hand, refers to the practice of self-funding and relying on the company's operating revenues to finance and run the business. The term “bootstrap” in businesses originated from the saying of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” which means that you could do anything by yourself without any support, emphasizing self-reliance and minimal external funding.
The core principle of bootstrapping is to avoid giving up equity or ownership in exchange for larger investments. This allows founders to maintain full control over the future direction and development of their company.
As bootstrapped businesses need to be more profit-oriented, self-funded startups need to be prioritized to be profitable from the outset to ensure that they are able to keep operations running and have enough funds to reinvest in the business later on. Gradually, this makes the startup a more sustainable business model.
The best funding approach for your startup depends on your specific circumstances, goals, and the nature of your business. Bootstrapping may be an ideal choice for businesses that can generate revenue quickly and do not require substantial upfront capital. Conversely, VC funding may be a better fit for startups with ambitious growth plans and larger market opportunities that require significant resources to scale rapidly.
Ultimately, the decision between VC and bootstrapping should be based on a careful analysis of your startup's needs, the trade-offs involved, and your personal preferences as a founder. By understanding the nuances of each funding model, you can make an informed choice that aligns with your startup's long-term vision and increases your chances of success.
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July 4, 2024
You may have a revolutionary and disruptive product, but no one would buy it if people do not know about its existence. In fact, 14% of startups fail because of poor marketing efforts. Hence, getting your product out there to reach its target market is one of the most important yet trickiest parts of growing your user base.
Launching on Product Hunt may just help you with getting your first users and your name out there to more people. It is a low-hanging fruit with a high yield, and winning on Product Hunt boosts your company’s visibility, brand awareness, and social proof that will unlock a short-term growth opportunity that leads to more doors in the market.
Some successful startups like Notion, Zoom, and Figma launched their product on the site and they have since then grown exponentially since their launch day.
CoffeeSpace has also launched on Product Hunt recently and out of 100+ companies launching on the same day, we landed on the top 5 spot for Product of The Day and 11th for Product of the Week! Our user base also grew by 15% from the Product Hunt launch itself, which is a testament to the platform's effectiveness in driving visibility and engagement for new products.
Product Hunt is a social media and product launchpad combined, this platform is for discovering and sharing new tech products and building a tight-knitted community of early adopters, especially helpful for founders wanting to get the word out about their startups.
Not only is the launch day important but Product Hunt is another space for others to discover your product page and convert! Now, we are going to share our experience and some tips on launching and to land on the top Product of The Day spots!
Here’s a checklist to guide you through the submission process for launching your product on Product Hunt:
This checklist is also available on the Product Hunt Launch Guideline Page to help you prepare for your launch.
Now you are all set on launching your product. How do you win?
Winning Product of the Day essentially gives you more visibility and higher traffic to your page, which essentially means the probability of user conversion in the very least, is higher.
Products refresh every 24 hours according to Pacific Standard Time (PT) and the rules are simple: get as many upvotes as you can during the day of your launch, and products with the most votes land on the top spots. Quality and organic upvotes are crucial, as Product Hunt detects bots and spam - those votes get removed eventually. On top of upvotes, authentic user reviews are also another way to gain traction to your products.
As Product Hunt resets their daily list, it is strongly recommended that you launch at 12:01am PT to maximize the time you get the full 24-hour to get upvotes.
This is the critical 24-hour period, and you want to garner all the upvotes and attention, and be engaged in the comments section and interact with users who show interest or have commented. This helps you to get valuable feedback for your product, but also to foster a sense of community, increasing user engagement and loyalty!
Social media platforms are your best friends to get upvotes. Post everywhere that you can - LinkedIn, Twitter (or X), your own newsletter etc. to make sure you are not missing out on any spaces that should know about your launch! Just a gentle nudge to your followers for their support through direct messages can also go a long way!
For CoffeeSpace, we have launched our app several weeks prior to Product Hunt, hence we are already launching with a pool of early users who have tested and tried the app. For founders who are launching their products on Product Hunt as their official launch, we definitely have some alternative tips that may work in your favor better.
On Product Hunt, there is an option to “launch now” or “launch later” and a scheduled launch can go up to 30 days in advance. Upon scheduling your launch, your product will be featured on the “Coming Soon” page, which essentially shows all the upcoming launches.
This is helpful as you can start building your presence and community on Product Hunt before launching! This gives you ample time for people to check out and discover your product beforehand, and get notified and excited when you launch!
Remember, this is a social space to uplift makers! Show your love to other launches too - comment, upvote, share about them! This is a tight-knit community and being supportive helps you to network, connect, and meet other amazing makers and users!
Launching as a maker is no easy job, but we highly recommend launching yourself instead of finding a hunter (someone to do it for you) on Product Hunt. This helps with being connected closer with your users and garnering the feeling of inclusivity and exclusivity with the maker. As such, it is important to also keep your page updated so it looks professional. Be it your own Product Hunt page or your maker profile, keep them updated with relevant information - utilize the bio section to also further demonstrate your experiences, skills etc.
Launching on Product Hunt is a scary but thrilling milestone, and the adrenaline rush in that 24 hours is just intense, but rewarding! All in all, the purpose of launching your product is to reach new targeted audiences and get feedback for your later development of your product, winning Product of the Day of course, is the icing on the cake!
April 7, 2024
Over 50% of startups consist of more than one founder. If you think about it, it makes sense to have more than one founder as the operations and development of a startup require a lot of effort and dedication, there are only a limited and finite amount of things you can get done in 24 hours. Founder burnout, especially running a company alone, makes the challenge exponentially more difficult to avoid in an already cut-throat startup space.
So, solo founders who are considering a cofounder, knowing the right timing or at which stage of your startup that you want to have an additional partner is crucial, as it easily helps to maximize your time spent on the things you want to focus while leaving other tasks to the other to handle. There are several phases in a startup that one normally goes through, but no matter which stage your company is in, here are some questions to evaluate if you need a co-founder to join your venture!
You do not necessarily need a cofounder at a specific, predefined stage of your startup but the need for one can arise throughout the process, depending on your situation and circumstances. Here is a breakdown by stage:
During this initial brainstorming and market research phase, a cofounder can be valuable for several reasons. Having someone to challenge your assumptions is crucial, especially if you have someone with market research expertise as it can be a complex process, an extra pair of eyes may help to spot some gaps, loopholes, and deeper insights into your target market that your idea may offer. Even in this stage of a startup, having someone with complementary skills is hugely beneficial - perhaps you are a visionary with a revolutionary idea, but lack the market research expertise, or vice versa. Having a cofounder to offset some of your shortcomings may be strategic right from the start as you will have clear visions on your roles later on. By leveraging on combined skills and perspectives that your cofounders share, you can work more effectively and increase your chances of developing a well-rounded business concept significantly.
Or perhaps you are in the phase of building your MVP or developing your solution. The workload of building the MVP may be overwhelming for one person alone on top of the initial marketing efforts to dominate the consumer gap. Efficiency and speed are both key elements to develop and design your solution, and this meticulous process may take a long time, even longer with only one person working on it. A cofounder can bring increased productivity or build a functional prototype, if both are technical, or if not, a non-technical cofounder is also crucial at this phase to seek for early customers and users, gain early traction, and build brand awareness while the solution is in the works. Of course, there is always the option to hire freelance developers or design teams, depending on the circumstances and the vision of the founder, then a cofounder might not be essential at this stage.
This phase is arguably the trickiest part of expanding a startup and assimilating your product solution to the market. At this point, complementary expertise can be crucial for scaling operations efficiently, with the technical cofounder working on new iterations, while not hindering the marketing co-founder to increase the user base and pull in investors for the company.
All in all, there is no pressure to have a cofounder at any stage of a startup as you can always bring on a cofounder later. Don't feel pressured to find one at the very beginning if you don't need one, and instead identify the aspects which you may need extra support and help with and focus on finding someone who complements your skillset and shares your vision. When all’s said and done, it's sometimes better to go solo than be in a bad cofounder partnership.
CoffeeSpace is an app made for founders to meet their ideal cofounder, built to enhance your cofounder search experience, it is a platform for all founders, tinkerers, and aspiring entrepreneurs to explore business ideas and go build. Sign up now to meet others exploring ideas!
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July 3, 2024
Your co-founder should be someone who can see the same vision and walk the tough path with you, especially when things get tough. This partnership is the bedrock of your startup - Brian Chesky
This means your startup is heading on a positive trajectory and needs an extra pair of eyes and hands! If you are in that position right now and reading this, first of all - congratulations! It is such exciting news and we wish you the best with your venture (and potentially an additional co-founder)!
However, there are many common pitfalls and blind spots that entrepreneurs fall prey to when it comes to this important decision. A co-founder can either be the wind beneath your wings, propelling your venture to success, or the anchor dragging you down. (Obviously, we would want to avoid the latter!)
Here are some common mistakes to watch out for and tips on how to avoid them:
One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is rushing into a partnership without thoroughly vetting their potential co-founder. While we know it is exciting to kickstart your venture with your new co-founder, it's essential to take the time to get to know the candidate beyond what they put on paper. This synergy and relationship building with your future co-founder takes time, so don’t rush the process! A tip is to have them work together with you on smaller scale projects before deciding to commit to a long-term partnership together. This way, you are able to learn more about their hard and soft skills when it comes to handling a project, which is crucial for your assessment of their suitability in the bigger picture!
Another common pitfall founders often overlook is being in the tunneled focus on finding someone with the right hard skills, portfolio, and resume only. While technical skills play an important role in accelerating your startup, that shouldn't be the only criteria when selecting a potential co-founder. Look beyond the resume and also do not forget to consider factors such as problem-solving skills, creativity, and adaptability!
Beyond skills and experience, it's crucial to assess the personality and character of your potential co-founder. Are your values and visions for the company aligned? What about your work ethics and communication styles? Finding the right cofounder is like finding the right partner, you have to factor in that this may be the person you are working with for the next years of building your startup!
Now that you find someone with an amazing portfolio and resume, another important pitfall to avoid is to never forget to evaluate their compatibility and focus on complementary skills that fills your gap. Ensure that you and your co-founder complement each other's skills and expertise. It may be essential to have overlapping abilities, but having diverse skill sets is definitely an added advantage to enhance your startup's capabilities and resilience.
Being a co-founder means responsibility and you want it to be adequately distributed among your co-founder and yourself. Misaligned commitment levels can quickly escalate to resentment and internal conflict that hinders the progress of your timeline. It is crucial to make sure that both you and your co-founder are equally committed to the startup and willing to invest the necessary time, energy, and resources.
If there is an unequal distribution in your team, keep in mind any imbalances in the time and effort spent on the startup. If one co-founder is consistently carrying a heavier workload or making more significant sacrifices, it can strain the relationship and lead to frustration and arguments.
In addition to the commitment and effort, unclear roles and responsibilities from the get-go may lead to dispute and discord among your team members. Ambiguity in this area can lead to confusion, duplication of efforts, and inefficiencies. Remember to clearly define each co-founder's roles and responsibilities from the outset to ensure a smooth and untroubled transition from being a solo founder to having another co-founder in your team!
In short, good contract terms lead to good partnerships. A vesting schedule sets the seal that each co-founder earns their equity stake over time based on their continued contribution to the startup. Failing to implement a vesting schedule from the start can leave the door open for disputes or disagreements down the line when the startup grows and becomes more successful.
In conclusion, choosing the right co-founder is no easy task. It can take up from days to years to find the right person who shares the same values and vision for the future of your company! Remember, take your time and fun with it - enjoy the process and trust your instincts!
If you are ready to go on your co-founder search journey, CoffeeSpace is the perfect accelerated “dating” app for you to find quality co-founders! Download our app now, or test out how the app works in our playground now!
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June 12, 2024
You are meeting your dream potential cofounder after reading through their resumes and portfolios. Now what? Kickstart a meaningful conversation to get to know them and your company better! Asking the right questions helps you to identify a potential co-founder or to sift out red flags that you come across.
Here are some important questions to ask your potential co-founder, and a helpful tip is to make sure that you answer them yourself first - it comes in handy for when you match your expectations with your potential cofounder’s!
All in all, these are just some helpful prompts to kickstart your chat with your potential cofounder! Take the conversation one step further when you discuss your expectations. Be open-minded when going into conversations like this, it will not only help you to better understand your needs and standards for a cofounder, but also to comprehensively get to know your future business partner!
Have a startup or business idea? Find someone to explore it with. If you are looking for a co-founder, or you are just exploring the startup ecosystem, CoffeeSpace is the ideal platform for you.
Sign up now to start exploring and building, or try out our playground to get a feel on how things work!
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