Co-founders and partners: when quarreling is good and useful

Every business has a team. However, in a small business there are no rules or methodology for how to work with it. Especially in a startup where there are no clear job descriptions when it comes to only the shares of a business that may develop.
We decided to deal with this. Your attention is a free translation of an article from Steve Blanc's blog.

I am often asked about how to look for someone who is similar to you in their views on business in order to jointly establish a startup. In answering, I usually give a list of character traits that I always look for in a “co-founder”. Also, I attach great importance to the ability to work in a team and conformity to one of the three main archetypes - hacker / businessman / creator. However, Jessica Alter , Founder and CEO of FounderDating , argues that the co-founders are not always people who do business next to each other. She said that I was missing one key point that significantly influenced the success and cohesion of the startup team. This parameter is how the co-founders quarrel with each other. I asked her to decipher her thought, and this is what happened:

I work a lot on the issue of the work of the co-founders in conjunction - too much! And, of course, I am often asked how to choose the right “co-founder” - a true friend and partner who will help create a business from scratch!

Usually, I begin to list a list of important qualities: complementary skills, a similar vision, an understanding of the fact that no one can be made to “fall in love” with your idea (simply because the idea changes — and what then?). There are many more qualities, and all of them are certainly important. However, a few weeks ago, after a panel discussion on the co-founders of Startup2Startup, there was a small conversation at dinner, the participants of which went deep into the topic. Garry Tan (Posterous, YC), who has great life and business experience, uttered the phrase: "If successful, you can close your eyes to a lot."
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At that moment, something “clicked” in my head: in fact, the main thing that you should pay attention to when looking for a co-facilitator and partner is how you will “quarrel” .

This aspect is important for many reasons, the first of which is that if you have time for disputes and conflicts, it means that you work a lot in conjunction for their occurrence. Quick advice for those who think that finding a real partner is a trifling matter: change your mindset, otherwise you will find a subordinate, not a co-owner of your future business.

Before you figure out with whom you can work together, you (and now it will be a simple truth) just have to WORK together! This may be a minor project, development during StartupWeekend , a hackathon, or a full-time job for several months. No matter how you do it, you have to create something joint. And it does not matter whether this is a finished quality product, this is not the point, but to understand in which areas your professional “interests” intersect, which can provoke a conflict in the process of working together.

Do not mislead yourself: the absence of conflict does not mean the right choice - increase the "trial period"!

Understand what “real life of a startup” is. Over a long period of time (much longer than you plan), you will encounter many problems that you will have to solve TOGETHER. Even if your project goes uphill, the indicators are growing rapidly and the progress is obvious, you will not be able to avoid a large number of everyday difficulties that you must overcome in conjunction. This fact, as well as the moment of the return of money approaching with every second, will heat up the situation, and, therefore, will provide rich ground for disagreement.

If you don’t even have an understanding of what lies ahead, it means that you are not enough not prepared for the difficulties, but also that the real state of affairs can be shocking for you.

We will come to a common denominator - you will certainly quarrel. In essence, this means nothing. This is excellent and speaks of a healthy, working atmosphere. Let's look at how your "battles" go? Rapidly develop, immediately "go out" or stretch? Do you forget everything quickly and can you move on immediately? After all, the speed of movement is the basis for a startup: if your conflict is prolonged, it only means wasted lost time for the project and the team members who feel uncomfortable.

Ask yourself the question: Have we left the conflict quickly and with dignity and respect? It is important.

Finally, the very essence of the conflict is important. Do your disputes concern the location and color of the “Registration” button or the question of attracting investments?

Many people opt for the methods of selecting a partner, comparing complementary qualifications, and believe that the whole question is exhausting itself, and the problem is not worth a penny. Of course, appropriate competencies are great, especially when your conflicts are in a “functional” area. This means that too many of your skills overlap, and conflict resolution should not be difficult.

It is much more difficult when disagreements relate to questions like: “Why did we decide to start a company?”, “What should this company be?”, “How will we work?”, “What are our values? What about priorities? ”Etc. It doesn’t matter whether you perceive your business as a “lifelong business” or your final goal is an IPO, check email after 19.00, etc. - all these are personal decisions for everyone. Just make sure that your views on the underlying issues coincide with the views of your potential partner.

In conclusion: I do not propose to deliberately provoke conflicts. In any relationship, there are successful and unsuccessful periods, the only question is how quickly they move from one state to another. Draw conclusions from any conflict and make sober, informed decisions.

Note: by the way, this approach is also followed in sports management, for example, Arsene Wenger : if there is not a single conflict or a fight in a team for a week, then there’s something wrong with the team spirit.

Do you have any useful conflicts? Any examples you can share?