If you’re talking with cofounders about launching a new business, you’re fundamentally recruiting someone to take the job of partnering with you for the next decade. I see a lot of founders who do less due diligence than I think ideal before making that long-term commitment.
Just knowing one another for a long time is not sufficient. I suggest read Ready to Join a New Management Team? Here’s How to Do Your Due Diligence First.
Once you have established that you’ve identified the right cofounder(s), the biggest pain point is typically and unsurprisingly the equity split. I suggest:
- Gust’s equity split methodology
- SlicingPie
- Splitting Equity With Your Co-founder? Here’s What You Need to Know
- Giving Away Startup Ownership: How Much Is Too Much?
- How to Split Equity Among Company Founders
- A Founders’ Agreement: The Best Way to Avoid and Manage Co-Founder Conflict
- YC: How to Split Equity Among Co-Founders
- Capbase: How to Split Equity Among Co-Founders
Also relevant:
- U. Penn Law School Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic: Founders’ Agreement Overview
- Looking for Love in All The Wrong Places – How to Find a Co-founder
- 5 tips for starting a business with a stranger
- The Pyramid of Co-Founder Success
- David Brooks’ questions for choosing a partner in life
- Successful co-founder dynamics
- Tapestry, a standardized process for setting up your co-founder partnership
- Co-founder Question Cards
- Book: The Partnership Charter: How To Start Out Right With Your New Business Partnership (or Fix The One You’re In)
- Meeting Cofounders: What to Look for and The 10 Best Places to Find Them
Background
- An investor’s approach to finding your spouse
- How to sell your professional background; I recommend share detailed resumes with your cofounders.