1.2 – Who Might Be Involved in Your Venture
Building a company is hard. It requires long hours and diverse skill sets. Having a co- founder is a common way to share responsibilities, to build complementary skill sets, and to smooth out the emotional ups and downs.
This module will cover the following topics:
- Having a Co-Founder
- Understanding Your Entrepreneurial Function
- Choosing Your Board of Directors, Advisors & Mentors
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Assess the pros and cons of having a co-founder
- Examine the three core skill sets involved with developing a startup
- Identify the roles and responsibilities of various actors in a venture
Section A: Having a Co-Founder
Any friendship or relationship has its pluses and minuses; having a co-founder or business partner is no different.
Consider the following benefits and challenges to having a co-founder.
Benefits
Contribution Of Resources
- Time and energy: Each new partner offers labour, energy and ideas to speed up the venture. Multiple co-founders can also conquer the seemingly endless list of tasks.
- Money or startup capital: Potential co-founders can bring startup capital to cover early expenses.
- Network: Adding co-founders expands your company’s network of potential customers, investors, and employees.
Complementary Skill Sets
The next section covers the variety of skills needed to launch a new venture. For example, engineering, sales, and strategy are the most common skills needed in a venture’s earliest days. It’s rare for one person, however talented and experienced they may be, to have all the necessary skills.
Diverse Perspectives And Opinions
This TechCrunch article highlights the clear benefits of a diverse founding team:
“Diverse teams perform better. First Round Capital found that, over 10 years, teams with at least one female co-founder performed 63 percent better than male-only teams. Racially diverse teams also perform 35 percent better than their industry peers. Yet only 8 percent of venture capital money is going to women-led companies, and 1 percent is going to companies with a black founder. While black and Latina women in particular are behind 80 percent of new female-led companies, they capture a meager .2 percent of VC funding.”
Pause
Sharing Responsibilities, Decision Making & Stress
As discussed in the last module – The Start Up Roller Coaster – getting a company off of the ground can be a lonely, difficult and stressful process. Many entrepreneurs succeed on their own, but having a partner can make the process a lot easier.
A partner can help with decision-making. You may think your idea or strategy is the greatest ever, but smart entrepreneurs know the benefit of a second set of eyes, ears and thoughts. Having a partner helps vet ideas and strategies to ensure the approach is well thought out and sound.
Make no mistake, however: deciding to work with a partner or co-founder differs from hiring a senior employee. With a senior employee you