Top 10 Articles to Help Entrepreneurs Find a Co-Founder
Thursday Jun 7, 2012 by Michael Hughes - Business Development, CoFoundersLab
You’re an entrepreneur with a great startup venture idea. You could go it alone, or you could find a co-founder. Why is the latter a good idea? Well, first and foremost, studies have shown that startups with more than one founder see a higher rate of success. David Gage, co-founder of BMC Associates, an Arlington, VA business-meditation practice, cites a study by researchers at Marquette University. The researchers looked at almost 2,000 companies and categorized the best performing ones as “hypergrowth” companies. A staggering 94% of the hypergrowth companies were founded by teams, whereas only 6% were founded by solo entrepreneurs. Why is this the case? Lots of reasons, but I’m going to highlight a few important ones below.
Why Even Consider a Co-Founder for your Startup?
Share the Weight. It’s Heavy!
First and foremost, there is always too much to do at a startup. Dividing tasks amongst multiple people improves the chances that everything that needs to get done gets done. The math is very simple. (Side note: You’ll still never get everything done, but that’s a whole other story.) Furthermore, multiple founders bring new energy, ideas, networks, and maybe even new resources like extra capital!
Mad Skillz is Great, More Skillz is Better
Co-founders bring complementary skill sets to the table. Sure, some talented people do multiple things exceptionally well, but most of us truly excel at a small number of skills, and these skills are often related in some way. Is it possible for someone to be a great programmer and a great marketer? Yes. Is it more likely that that person is better suited for one or the other? Absolutely. Moreover, having a partner that complements you, and thus can focus on different aspects of the business, means fewer arguments!
We All Need Someone to Lean On
Co-founders provide a built in support system. Good co-founders have a shared set of values and a shared vision for what the company can and will be. This is equally as critical as complementary skill sets. Every startup will go through many changes, and many ups and downs. It’s a very difficult journey no matter what, but having co-founders that believe in you, and believe in what your company is doing, makes the journey that much more manageable.
Here at CoFoundersLab, our goal is simple. We want to help entrepreneurs with the first, and often most critical, step in launching a startup: finding a co-founder. We do this matchmaking in two ways: via an online matching platform and through in-person Meetups. Our main goal is to better facilitate the connecting and matching of co-founders, and thus help to create more successful companies.
Below is a list of 10 fantastic articles, thus far in 2012, related to finding co-founders and/or building a great startup team. Let us know which article you find the most helpful, and please help some fellow entrepreneurs by sharing!
Inc.: Want to Start a Business? First, Find a Partner
Entrepreneur: Hackathon Hiring: How to Scout for Coders with Confidence
Econsultancy: Five tips for Finding a Co-Founder
Inc.: Why I Have Sex with my Co-Founder?
Geekwire: How to find that special someone: Your co-founder
Forbes: The Perfect Match: Finding the Right Co-Founder
The Tech Entrepreneurship Blog: 5 Rules for Cofounder Heaven
OnStartups: Avoiding Founder Failure: 26 Quick Tips and Real Data
Mashable: 5 Key Talents of Successful Startup Founders
Inc.: 6 Ways to find a Technical Co-Founder
Michael Hughes is part of the Business Development team at CoFoundersLab. You can find this post, as well as additional content on their blog located here. You can also follow Michael (@mhhughes8) on Twitter by clicking here.
Related Posts
| Categories: |