This blog post is written for my Co-Founder to be. To check if there is a common ground to build a venture on.
These questions are copied from Y Combinator co-founder handbook and answers are ofc mine.
Finding a co-founder can be tough. Meeting people who aren't a fit at all is mentally draining for an introvert like me. So what I've actually done is having kept these answers in a public folder and asked potential co-founders to read them before deciding to meet or not. The ones who like my answers are likely more of a fit than the ones who don't. And tadaa, time and energy saved when not meeting up with people who aren't a fit. This btw applies also in recruitment: give out as much info as possible as openly as possible and you will more likely find the ones who are a great fit and add. And don't use your energy to ones who would not be a good fit and add after all.
1. Why do you want to do this startup? What are your personal goals here, both financial and non-financial?
TLDR: I hate seeing this problem unsolved. So helping peers who struggle with the same stuff I have struggled with all these years in Talent Acquisition. Also for the thrill and for the impact.
This wall of text 👇 is something I wrote 2023 when reflecting what to do next, still applies!
I’ve always been one of those who don’t work only for the money. Sometimes I think life would be a lot easier if I was. Feel nice and satisfied in the comfort zone, maybe have a hobby that I could get kicks out of. Well, I’ve never found a hobby like that. Playing online poker before I had my child has maybe been closest to giving me those kicks. I do love downhill skiing, diy projects at the summer house and lots of other things as well but I’m just not the type of a person that feels fully satisfied with life without having big enough challenges at work.
A true first world problem, ha! I do realise that. Now was the moment when no-one dear had gotten severely ill or just died, and the physical and mental health of mine and my loved ones didn’t suck all the energy out of me. The kid is getting bigger and more independent, life and finances are at balance so what could be a better moment to do this. If life has taught me something, it’s seizing the moment. You never know when the next curveball is on its way. It’s better to act before it hits if you want to get something done before the next near and dear gets ill, dies, there is a pandemic, a war or something else that messes up your world.
Imagine you’re dying, what would you regret?
We’ve all read what people most regret in life when death is approaching. Not spending enough time with your loved ones, not chasing the dreams. The first one I never want to regret so the ones close to me will always be my priority. But have I really chased my dreams of professional life? Not really. I’ve taken chances when I’ve seen them but I’ve always had the feeling of not using my full potential.
So I stole myself and left my job to really figure out what to do next. For developing myself professionally and hoping to find myself doing something good in this world. I don’t want to have regrets on my deathbed. You could say my life goal is to die happy :smirk: How do I do that, assuming I’m not dying tomorrow? As a disclaimer I have to say that I would die happy if I died tomorrow. But if there is still a good 30-40 years left, why not make the most out of it and also go for the dreams I still have to chase!
For more than ten years I’ve imagined myself being a startup (co-)founder some day. Why have I waited all these years if I knew? The answer is simple, I wasn’t ready (or that was my thinking), and life happened. But as mentioned before, life is now pretty balanced and I have no excuses left.
Why have I imagined myself being a startup founder? I have the interest, the abilities and I imagine it being hard, versatile, rewarding and making it possible to learn something new all the time. I love tricky challenges and big goals and the dopamine rushes you get when you are able to help others (team, customers, nature, the less fortunate etc.).
For years and years when I’ve had some free time and a phone in my hand, I’ve found myself reading a lot about leadership, startups, product development and tech world in general, success and failure stories etc. Those are the topics I’m really into. I’ve also followed many startups close and far and thought a lot about what I would apply or do differently myself, analyzing and trying to learn from others’ success and mistakes.
By this age I’ve also been able to quite well recognise my strengths, weaknesses, natural way of doing things, what kind of people around me get the best out of me and what kind get the worst out. I do believe it’s better to utilize your strengths instead of trying to get better at something you struggle with. If possible.
2. What will our roles and titles be? How will we divide responsibilities? Who will be CEO?
I think CEO title can help open doors to customers and having strong domain experience when contacting and having first chats with customers is crucial. That is the reason I think I should be the CEO. I’ve imagined that I would probably be responsible for sales, marketing, fundraising and being the product owner domain wise. Sales and marketing I know well, I’m getting good at fundraising (even though it's not time for that yet) and being the domain PO developing this together with customers is something I’m very much looking forward to. It’s kinda like the consulting work I’ve done in the past but now we’re developing a product, not developing client processes or own service offerings. Who knows if being the CEO in the later stages is my thing, remains to be seen. Hope to be able to do stuff that I'm good at and like doing, regardless of the title.
I would love to work with a founder who takes the technical ownership of the product, thinking that the PO role is shared, we are both hands on in customer work and meets as equals, just with different expertise complementing each other making thinking much more rich and creative. In the ideal situation I would love to spar also about sales, marketing and having a partner alongside me in fundraising.
My style of communication is very collaborative, I share all info openly and love comments, ideas, edit suggestions etc. A very practical example: If I’m responsible for sales and marketing, I probably first want to go through what I have planned and spar together for a moment. Then I do the preparations and ask you to check the prospect list, my reachout messages and materials etc. So taking the ownership but working together on the topic. I’m also ofc capable and comfortable going forward without your contribution if you are e.g. busy. I don't need another opinion to make decisions and move forward, but usually the outcome is better after sparring a bit.
Growing bigger I can take on the hiring and lead the commercial side and people stuff. I’d hope my technical co-founder would want to be responsible for leading the tech team. In the beginning all hiring decisions should be done together and if the other says no > we will not hire that person.
3. How will we split up equity?
If we have an equal amount of responsibilities/contribution and if we both invest the same amount of work and maybe also money before fundraising, I think equal split is fair. But being the mother of this idea and having already done plenty of groundwork, I’d like to ensure I will be the one taking this venture forward if there is a breakup. And that is why I’d suggest 51/49.
I think the split should be less equal if the contribution is more unbalanced. If the contribution is e.g. purely technical.
4. Where will the company be based? Where will we each live? Will we work together in-person or remotely?
Company based in Finland in the beginning, I will live in Helsinki. We probably work remote but it would be great to meet once in a while, maybe something like 4 times a year? I would anyhow want to build a remote company so better start building so right from the get-go!
5. What idea will we work on? If that idea doesn’t work out, are you willing to change the idea? Are you only interested in working on ideas in certain areas?
Bottleneck and pivoting ofc until we reach PMF. Having interviewed lots of people and struggled with this problem myself, also seeing companies wasting so much time, money and effort doing hiring like they do, I know this problem is real and there is a global market for the solution.
BUT if this venture for some reason would be a dead end but the collab between us works, I would be more than happy to explore something else together. I'm very much into sustainability and if someone now asked me to co-found a company under that domain and all would seem good, I would consider doing it actually. After all, the biggest motivation for me taking risks and going after big goals is eventually being able to have an impact on something truly important in this world. To help solve the BIG, existential problems in this world: climate etc.
6. What needs to happen for each of us to go full-time (quit other jobs or school commitments)?
Well I am full-time already, maybe it was midlife crisis that made me do it 😅
7. What is your personal financial situation? Are you willing to work for free and live on your savings? For how long? If you'll need a salary to work on this full-time (either now or at some point), how much do you need to feel comfortable? Will either of us put money into the company?
Have been working without pay with the help of savings already. Hopefully not for long anymore as Bottleneck is up and running as a service business 🎉 Until it's time to build the product, cannot wait to get to that point.
I can put some money in to cover the must have costs, but my runway would melt quite fast if I had to pay someone's salary or buy e.g. sw consulting services. After fundraising, I think I would need some salary as I have bills and loans to pay and child to feed. Paying ourselves very little isn't a problem if there are savings left at that point 😅 I don't mind eating porridge for lunch and I hate shopping anyways 😆 And hey, less salary, more motivation to reach PMF fast and make that unicorn exit before too long 😜
8. What will our typical working schedule be (what days we work, what hours / day, etc)? How long do we want to keep that up? Are there any things outside of work that are important to you to make time for?
Would always love to work smarter rather than harder. I only work when my child isn’t around. On Mon 8-16, Tue 8 >, Wed 8-16, Thu 8 >, Fri 8-16. So can work more on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I do also sometimes work during kid's hobbies and the weekend, but would want to avoid that and have a life 😄 I'd say my problem in the past has been working too much (especially if I'm very excited about something) and having a kid has brought much needed balance to that.
Working all the time kills the focus and creativity and I believe without those 2 you are destined to fail.
9. If we are successful enough to get to build a team of employees, are there things that are important to you about how we do that? I.e., building an in-person vs remote company, having certain cultural values, having a particular approach to hiring or managing people?
Remote first as it allows more freedom and work-life balance for people and would not want to limit hiring only to a certain country for example. About managing people: I'm a big believer of measuring impact and results, not attendance. Finding people who are committed working towards the shared mission, and rewarding them accordingly. I think sharing everything as openly and honestly as one can creates trust, eliminates energy sucking insecurities and speculations and everyone can focus on the essential.
Values are a big deal for me. Here are values/things that are important to me:
✨✨✨ Openness, honesty, justice, empathy, ambition, working smart, taking ownership, sharing ups and downs together, constant learning and developing, taking action, strong collaboration, being supportive, humor.
🚩🚩🚩 Red flags for me: selfishness, optimizing one's own good if it’s not the best solution for all, keeping information from others, dishonesty, stealing ideas, taking credit for other’s success, not being supportive and collaborative, talking bad behind the back, not taking ownership or initiatives, letting others work hard and doing as less as possible yourself. I'm also allergic to appearing busy without actually getting the important things done.
10. What will we do if we’re having trouble agreeing on an important decision? What will happen if we decide we don’t want to work together anymore?
What comes to hiring, if the other says no, it is a no. With other big decisions, if not sure what to do and how to proceed, we could always ask advice from people smarter than us and try to then come to a conclusion/compromise. But also having a clear understanding of responsibilities helps. So with not-huge decisions: e.g. I decide if it’s related to sales and you decide if it’s related to tech.
Not wanting to work together anymore:
We talk openly and honestly and if we cannot fix the situation we split up. With SHA and vesting schedules we have agreed what happens to equity etc.