How to be an awesome business co-founder
A few weeks back, I wrote a post about finding a technical co-founder. I’ve been having some conversations lately with developers who are looking for a business co-founder. I like the model of hustler & hacker co-founders. Here are some qualities of a great business co-founder.
An awesome business co-founder is:
A great producer of work-product — skilled at excel for financial models, powerpoint or keynote for pitch decks, writing for web copy, email updates. By great I don’t mean a resume that says “capable” at those software programs — I mean someone that knows how to create a financial model, builds beautiful decks, and writes really well. You should be impressed when you see their stuff.
A hustler — someone who likes talking to people, has done cold calling in sales at some point, has a knack for getting meetings, loves going to networking events.
A leader — has taken a leadership role in their community, organizes events, has a blog, has an opinion, speaks at conferences and events — someone who puts themselves out there.
A doer — takes stuff and runs with it. Sometimes termed a self-starter, I prefer “a doer” because they are going to get it done, whatever it takes. This may mean delegating, outsourcing, or hiring, but it means the job will get done. You need to be focused on product development, you want a co-founder who makes your life easier by doing stuff, not talking about it.
A bad business co-founder is:
A fake co-founder — someone not up to the challenge that you are plugging in just to fill the role b/c you think you’re supposed to have a co-founder
An idea guy or gal — someone who thinks they have brilliant ideas that someone else should implement
A talker — the opposite of a doer, a talker just talks about stuff that should get done, but never seems to be pulling their own weight
A big leaguer — someone who has had a successful career as an executive so they think the daily grind of getting stuff done is below them
Of all of those, the one I look for is the producer of work product. It’s so important to be able to produce high-quality output. Just like writing code, a business co-founder should be capable of producing business stuff. What do you look for in a business co-founder?