Co-Founders Keepers: Finding the Right Partner is Tough

"I can do it all myself" declare many new entrepreneurs as they decide to go solo.  They choose to overlook that co-founders can complement skills, help propel business and provide investment amongst many other things.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to find a suitable co-founder.  So it's common to have solopreneurs represent their ventures as 'we' and 'my team'. And why shouldn't they? They are indeed the CEO, CFO, CMO, Developer, Assistant, and Gopher. As an entrepreneur makes progress, taking the time and effort to find a cofounder or a team to supplement his/her skill-set will prove valuable. VCs often prefer teams with complementary skills to protect their investment.

Some great resources to find the perfect match include: CoFoundersLab and FounderDating. Be ready for the tough conversations up front, as author of The Founder's Dilemmas, Noam Wasserman, suggests. He reminds us to discuss equity based on output not just an arbitrary percentage. It's prudent to have the expectations set upfront. It's one less thing you will have to juggle on your journey.

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