You have the best idea for a business startup; however, you lack appropriate funds. You start looking for a co-founder that can help you materialize your idea. But is a co-founder easy to come by? How will you know that you found the right startup co-founder?
A startup co-founder is one of the most crucial partnerships in business. They even say that it is easier to break out of a marriage than breaking out of a business partnership. Why? Well, aside from the serious legal repercussions, being a co-founder requires a lot of things at stake on the table.
With that, you must know how to find a co-founder for a startup that can help you start your business and grow it further in the future.
What is a startup co-founder?
A co-founder is different from the founder. A solo founder means that a single person calls the shots in an organization. Co-founders or a founding team are two or more (usually up to ten) people who helped to create the company from the very beginning.
Co-founders can be the tech expert in the team or the investor. What differs them from the employees is the equity shares they hold within the firm. Aside from the equity shares, startup co-founders also share the burden of making tough decisions for the betterment of the company.
Since a co-founder is such a daunting position, do you think that you need to find a co-founder for a startup? Wouldn’t it be better to be a solo founder?
Do you need a co-founder?
A solo entrepreneur will surely have a hard time bringing up a startup. It will be hard financially, but it will also be harder in more areas of the business.
A tech founder builds a product and launches it in the market. As a tech founder, you can at least build a minimum viable product (MVP) without spending so much money on tech agencies. Once the product is ready, it is introduced into the market. Seems easy? On the contrary, it gets more complicated after that.
Once the product is launched, it can either be a success or a flop. If the product fails to reach its intended customers, it is most likely a failure in sales and distribution. This scenario is quite common for startups led by tech founders.
Admit it or not, tech founders often focus on building the product and set aside strategies on how to pitch the product to investors and consumers. A non-tech founder’s dilemma is the opposite. Since they are non-technical, they will need the help of tech agencies to build the product, which requires fees.
Two heads are better than one. Not only is it because of funding, but two leaders making decisions for the organization is better. It is ideal for a startup to have a technical founder and a sales and marketing expert founder. These are complementary skills that are necessary to produce and market a product successfully.
5 tips to Find a Startup Co-founder
We know how hard it is to look for a startup co-founder for your business idea. But then anything is possible when you exert the right effort. On your journey of finding a business partner, here are a few tips we compiled to help you.
Prepare your idea
Before you open your house for guests, set your table first. Yes, you may not have the product yet. However, you should at least prepare your business plans, wireframes, and pitch decks.
Prepare your business idea before you pitch it to a co-founder. This will show that you are committed and severe about setting the plan in motion. Also, this will help you explain your vision comprehensively.
Know what skills your company need
Know what type of skills will benefit your company. Aside from gaining financial strength, co-founding a startup can also help fill up the lacking skills in business.
You may be skilled in making sales and marketing, but you lack the skills of building the product. In this case, you need to look for a tech co-founder that can lead the product development.
Full Scale has such founders. Matt DeCoursey is a seasoned entrepreneur who has built multiple companies under his name. Even though he is not a software developer himself, DeCoursey is a founder of an offshore software development company.
That is because he has a dependable tech co-founder, Matt Watson. Master Watson (as DeCoursey calls him) has been writing code since he was young and even made his first million out of it.
This duo is what you can call the perfect co-founding team. One is an expert in selling and marketing, while the other is an expert in writing code.
Find someone you can trust
Your co-founder is someone who will be with you and make tough decisions while the startup progresses. In this case, you will need someone you can trust yet not fully commit to. This can be an entrepreneur friend who shares a similar vision that you do.
You can sit for coffee and talk about each other’s ideas. It is through these conversations that you build rapport and find out if you are compatible to start a business together.
Co-founders are not necessarily family members. If you ask, most people would rather not have family members in the business. One reason is that it creates a conflict of interest. Family members can help in funding, but it is better to keep them out of the startup.
Expand your network
What if you don’t know anyone who wants to be partners with you? What if you don’t have anyone in your network that shares your vision and idea? Should you choose to be a solo entrepreneur?
If you can’t find a like-mind in your circle, then expand your network. It is miserably true that startup co-founders are hard to find but that does not mean you can never find one.
Attend startup events and socialize with people of different viewpoints. You can find a person who shares the same interest or would be interested in your vision. Make sure that you give a thorough introduction to your idea and plans in the future. Think of it as a practice for pitching your idea to a broader audience.
If not, maybe your meetups will give you more insight into your business. Your idea may not be scalable enough for entrepreneurs to take a bite. Assess the situation and adjust as much as possible.
Recruit someone who believes in the company
When looking for a tech co-founder, make sure that you recruit someone who believes in the company and is willing to take risks.
One pitch deck design startup had this experience. The startup initially has two founders who are intent on building a pitch deck platform to help startups. However, they need a tech expert who can develop the product.
So, they browsed through LinkedIn to find a developer. Believe it or not, you can find this kind of person on professional social networking sites such as LinkedIn.
When they found the perfect candidate, they did not offer a job as a developer. Instead, they scheduled a meetup and talked about the business idea. Through their multiple meetings, their tech co-founder candidate found the idea more promising. So, the tech guy quit his day job and committed his time to develop their platform.
A co-founder should be dedicated to the business and should believe that your business will be a success. Though there are risks involved, you must remember that the nature of doing business is always coupled with multiple business threats.
Begin your startup journey
To find a startup co-founder, you must prepare your initial business presentation, look for the skills you need, find someone you trust, expand your network, and recruit a committed co-founder.
Once you find your startup co-founder, you are ready to start putting your idea into motion. Then you are prepared to pitch your startup for funding. But before that, you need an MVP.
You may need expert developers in your tech development team to accelerate production. However, hiring in-house product developers might fall hard on your expenses. To save cost and increase productivity, you can always hire an offshore software development team such as Full Scale.
Full Scale is a recommended offshore software development company that is committed to helping startups to build their MVPs. Since its kickoff, we helped dozens of startups get funding to scale their business.
If you are ready to scale your startup, you can schedule a FREE consultation and talk to us about your sterling business idea.
