The document provides lessons learned from searching for, considering, and working with co-founders. It emphasizes treating co-founding like a marriage by setting up vesting agreements and clear communication habits. When considering a co-founder, focus on intrinsic motivations and whether visions align. When working together, establish clear leadership and processes to resolve issues. Overall, co-founding requires treating it seriously like a long-term relationship and commitment.

1. Co-Founders
Lessons Learned
@andreasklinger

2. Co-
Founders
#1 searching
#2 considering
#3 joining
#4 working
(short lessons learned)

3. @andreasklinger
TL;DR:
I do startups…
LOOKK.com, die.socialisten.at, seedcamp mentor, leancamp fanboy
Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/andreasklinger

4. #1 searching
@andreasklinger

5. Searching sucks.

6. Waiting sucks.

7. Being dependent sucks.

8. If I find a technical
co-founder…

9. There is no “if” in
entrepreneurial
grammar.
And there is
too much stuff to do
to wait or just search…

10. Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
Acquisition
Problem/Solution Company building
Product/Market
Source: Steve Blank’s
Customer Development

11. Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
Acquisition
Problem/Solution Company building
Product/Market
“Talking” Land
(problem validation,
first customers)

12. Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
Acquisition
Problem/Solution Company building
Product/Market
“Talking” Land “Public Hacked
(problem validation, Prototype Land”
first customers) (solution validation,
more customers)

13. Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
Acquisition
Problem/Solution Company building
Product/Market
“Talking” Land “Public Hacked “Fix that crap” Land
(problem validation, Prototype Land” (Becoming a real
first customers) (solution validation, product and
more customers) company,
Fixing legacy,
Channel optimization)

14. Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
Acquisition
Problem/Solution Company building
Product/Market
“Talking” Land “Public Hacked “Fix that crap” Land “Mystery Land”
(problem validation, Prototype Land” (Becoming a real (Fighting Dragons,
first customers) (solution validation, product and Saving princesses,
more customers) company, etc)
Fixing legacy,
Channel optimization)

15. Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
5-7 Months 3-5 Months
Source: Startup Genome Project

16. Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
Enough time to
kill your first
startup idea.
You can do dozens of
iterations of your potential
problem and solution
without ever touching code.
Source: Startup Genome Project

17. How to kill your
first 100 startup
ideas…
CustDev is the
most efficient way
visualizing the solution
to kill your dreams. without biasing customers
Ever.
committing customers
testing the solution ( www.Keynotopia.com )

18. Learn
coding.
Coding is not a sacred art, it’s a craft.

19. Learn
coding.
Coding is not a sacred art, it’s a craft.
Everyone can learn to code on
“hacky prototype level”.

20. Get
Clients.
Money talks.

21. Get
Traction.
There are millions of reasons
for not having traction.
But none of them is an excuse.

22. Good problems
to have:
“I got clients’ money, I need development
support” (real)
“My hacked-together prototype gets too
much traffic, can you help me” (concrete)

23. #2 considering
@andreasklinger

24. Before
you join:
Write down
your first impressions and concerns.
Positive and negative.
Revise this every two weeks.
People don’t change &
Your gut is always right.

25. Before
you join:
Have a VERY honest talk
about WHY each of you
wants to do that startup.

26. Keeping the product abstract
helps in that talk.
Goal: Find real intrinsic motivation

27. E.g.
Becoming known in the startup “scene”.
Making money.
Being known worldwide.
Building software people use.
Coding in that new language.
Being innovative
Helping underdogs.
Sounds more fun than my agency job.
Play the VC/Startup game.

28. Why?
Intrinsic Motivation
affects Values and Comfort Zone.
Both affect Strategies.
People only do what people like to do.

29. See finding a co-founder
as hiring process.
It’s the most expensive job
of the company. (equity intense)
Still people spend less time on assessing
their co-founders than their employees.
Why?

30. Start
Loose…
Loose projects…
Loose contracts…
Loose hopes…
Loose (but honest) or no promises…

31. #3 joining
@andreasklinger

32. Co-Founding
~= Marriage
54% of all marriages end in divorce.

33. Co-Founding
~= Marriage
54% of all marriages end in divorce.
Set up vesting.

34. Co-Founding
~= Marriage
54% of all marriages end in divorce.
Set up vesting (with 6-12 month cliff).

35. Co-Founding
~= Marriage
54% of all marriages end in divorce.
Set up vesting (with 6-12 month cliff).
(seriously do it)

36. #4 working
@andreasklinger

37. Clear
Leadership
“Some startup founder teams have a
unified vision. Most have one strong leader.”
~ Devin Hunt

38. Clear
Leadership
“Some startup founder teams have a
unified vision. Most have one strong leader.”
~ Devin Hunt
Be clear who defines (and changes) the vision.
Be clear about who decides in the end, if needed.
Don’t confuse common agreement with democracy.

39. Make communication
a habit.
Daily calls.
Weekly progress check.
Clear process for each of them

40. Make communication
a habit.
Daily calls.
Weekly progress check.
Clear process for each of them
E.g. Daily calls
(only one person talks at a time, 10 mins max, discussions are done in a seperate call):
1) What did i do today
2) What am i going to do tomorrow
3) Problems i face
4) Announcements
5) Ways i found to improve (e.g. myself) [idea by buffer]

41. Co-
Founders
#1 searching
#2 considering
#3 joining
#4 working
(short lessons learned)

42. recommended presentations
by @robfitz on custdev/lean:
http://leanca.mp/2012/01/intro-to-lean-startup-with-no-buzzwords-by-robfitz/
http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/2012/05/how-to-do-and-what-to-expect-from-
early-stage-customer-development-sales/
Pictures by “Where the Wild Things Are” by Warner Bros
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/

43. And if they
haven’t killed
each other
they are living
happily ever after…
@andreasklinger