Founder Friday is a weekly guest post written by a founder who is based in or hails from the Silicon Prairie. Each month, a topic relevant to startups is presented and founders share lessons learned or best practices utilized on that topic. February’s topic is how co-founders found each other.
About the authors: David Chait and Chris Davis are the co-founders of Travefy.
Any entrepreneur can attest that a startup is all-consuming. From endless hours working to infinite hours thinking through your company, startup life is life.
As such, there is nothing more important than a strong team that motivates, complements and challenges each other—and, of course, has fun. This vital team dynamic and culture starts at the beginning with the founders. Consequently, founder dynamics, trust and the all-too-overlooked fit are vital.
Thanks to our sponsor
We founded Travefy—the easiest group travel planner—in 2012 and have grown to become partners in every sense of the world. In honor of Founder Friday, we’re sharing our experience and some tips for successful founder dynamics:
Look for the right partner, not the most convenient
David Chait (DC): Many entrepreneurs are quick to find a co-founder. They have an idea, but need someone else with business or technical experience to get it off the ground. Eager to start building, they start working with the most convenient person.
This approach can lead to disaster. Jumping into a startup, you have years of hard work and highs and lows ahead of you. It is imperative you are working with the right person. Would you pick a spouse or house that easily?
The right person varies for everyone, but cast a wide net and make sure you find someone with your same passion, vision and values. Don’t settle for anything less.
Chris Davis (CD): In 2012, we lived 1,300 miles apart and had never met. David had never even been to Nebraska. He started working on Travefy in New York City and wanted to find the right technical partner. A mutual friend who grew up in Lincoln introduced us.
Our initial conversations were funny. We talked once, both got excited about Travefy and said, “Let’s try this for a few weeks.” We had a video chat at 5:30 a.m. every morning and really shared a vision. With each of us working different jobs and at school, there finally came a point where we said, “Ok, let’s stop these calls and start working.”
Find partners who complement your skill set
David Chait (left) and Chris Davis (right) founded Lincoln-based startup Travefy in 2012.
DC: One of the most important things you can do is find a partner whose skills complement your own. This is vital for many reasons. First, this broadens your abilities, subsequently increasing what you can accomplish exponentially—a divide and conquer mentality.
Second, it establishes clear roles within your young company, which promotes trust, ownership and leadership. Chris and I have very distinct skills and subsequent roles—Chris manages the development side of everything while I manage business development and sales. We play to our strengths and trust each other immensely. That doesn’t mean I don’t challenge him on development decisions (and vice versa), but at the end of the day, I trust him implicitly.
Set yourself up for success
CD: Set yourself up for success with a clear communications structure to consistently discuss your product, vision and strategy. We talk, we debate and we, of course, disagree on certain things, but we’re always on the same page.
Put the issues to bed
DC: I know it sounds crazy, but one of the best ways to ensure a successful partnership is to take off of the table all the issues that tear partners apart. Factors such as equity, vesting, roles and assigning all intellectual property to the company may seem awkward and premature to address early on, but best to put these issues to bed before you put time and money into your venture.
I highly recommend reading Noam Wasserman’s “The Founder’s Dilemmas” for more information on this subject. It was definitely odd to talk about equity and roles in our weeks-old company, but we’ve never addressed them again and everything has been about building Travefy.
Have fun
CD: You’re working together because you love your product and believe in your company. So have fun and enjoy the journey!
Credits: Photos courtesy of Travefy.
