Wat zijn de potentiële valkuilen van het hebben van goede vrienden als mede-oprichters in een startup? - Quora
Wat zijn de potentiële valkuilen van het hebben van goede vrienden als mede-oprichters in een startup?
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Stan Hanks , startups! Haal je Startups hier!
Ik heb verschillende keren zaken gedaan met goede vrienden. Het is nooit goed afgelopen.
Ik heb zaken gedaan met mensen die ik kende, sociaal en / of professioneel, die goede vrienden werden en veel betere resultaten boekten.
Dit zijn mijn lessen:
1) Als je echt goede vrienden met iemand bent, zijn er dingen over hen die je niet weet, omdat je ervoor kiest ze de ogen te sluiten . Eén vriend en mede-oprichter bleek een actieve alcoholist te zijn. Retrospectief merkte ik dat ik dat wist - ik bedoel, ik was met hem uit geweest en hem vaak gezien - veel drinken, ik had halverwege de ochtend gebeld om hem dronken te vinden, enz. Ik dacht gewoon niet dat het betekende iets. Tot, natuurlijk, het deed.
2) Het vertrouwenselement dat impliciet in hechte vriendschap voorkomt, kan ertoe leiden dat je geen vragen stelt die je aan een compleet onbekende zou stellen. Je vertrouwt toch deze persoon, toch?
3) Omdat u persoonlijk dicht bij hen staat, kunt u gemakkelijk aannemen dat u er professioneel mee kunt werken - wat misschien niet het geval is. Die stapel vuile was die je opzij schopt als je naar het voetbal gaat, verandert in stapels andere dingen op kantoor en gaat van "kerel, doe je LOL eens" naar "we hebben investeerders die binnen 10 minuten komen, WTF ?? "
4) Je kent mensen pas echt als je ruzie hebt over geld. Misschien weet je dat ze in het weekend aankleden of hun moeders nooit bellen of een rare aantrekkingskracht hebben op dwergen in wetsuits of eigenlijk genieten van Vegemite, maar je weet niet wie ze zijn, tot er nog maar één dollar over is in de bodem van de kom en je kijkt er allebei hongerig naar.
5) Er is een neiging om dingen niet expliciet te verklaren aan goede vrienden zoals je zou doen om vreemden te voltooien. De veronderstelling van "maar je weet wat ik bedoel" heerst, wat leidt tot enkele echt, erg slechte resultaten ....
Slechtste geval in een opstartfout met vreemden: je verliest wat geld, enige tijd. Maar je kunt vrienden maken en dingen leren, zelfs als het opdoemt.
Slechtste geval in een startup met vrienden: je verliest alles. Niet alleen het geld en de tijd, maar ook de vrienden en mogelijk vele andere vrienden die aan de kant gaan als het verhaal zich ontvouwt.
Ik heb zaken gedaan met mensen die ik kende, sociaal en / of professioneel, die goede vrienden werden en veel betere resultaten boekten.
Dit zijn mijn lessen:
1) Als je echt goede vrienden met iemand bent, zijn er dingen over hen die je niet weet, omdat je ervoor kiest ze de ogen te sluiten . Eén vriend en mede-oprichter bleek een actieve alcoholist te zijn. Retrospectief merkte ik dat ik dat wist - ik bedoel, ik was met hem uit geweest en hem vaak gezien - veel drinken, ik had halverwege de ochtend gebeld om hem dronken te vinden, enz. Ik dacht gewoon niet dat het betekende iets. Tot, natuurlijk, het deed.
2) Het vertrouwenselement dat impliciet in hechte vriendschap voorkomt, kan ertoe leiden dat je geen vragen stelt die je aan een compleet onbekende zou stellen. Je vertrouwt toch deze persoon, toch?
3) Omdat u persoonlijk dicht bij hen staat, kunt u gemakkelijk aannemen dat u er professioneel mee kunt werken - wat misschien niet het geval is. Die stapel vuile was die je opzij schopt als je naar het voetbal gaat, verandert in stapels andere dingen op kantoor en gaat van "kerel, doe je LOL eens" naar "we hebben investeerders die binnen 10 minuten komen, WTF ?? "
4) Je kent mensen pas echt als je ruzie hebt over geld. Misschien weet je dat ze in het weekend aankleden of hun moeders nooit bellen of een rare aantrekkingskracht hebben op dwergen in wetsuits of eigenlijk genieten van Vegemite, maar je weet niet wie ze zijn, tot er nog maar één dollar over is in de bodem van de kom en je kijkt er allebei hongerig naar.
5) Er is een neiging om dingen niet expliciet te verklaren aan goede vrienden zoals je zou doen om vreemden te voltooien. De veronderstelling van "maar je weet wat ik bedoel" heerst, wat leidt tot enkele echt, erg slechte resultaten ....
Slechtste geval in een opstartfout met vreemden: je verliest wat geld, enige tijd. Maar je kunt vrienden maken en dingen leren, zelfs als het opdoemt.
Slechtste geval in een startup met vrienden: je verliest alles. Niet alleen het geld en de tijd, maar ook de vrienden en mogelijk vele andere vrienden die aan de kant gaan als het verhaal zich ontvouwt.
Jason M. Lemkin , mede-oprichter / CEO, EchoSign, NanoGram Devices
Answered Jul 2, 2015 · Upvoted by Marc Bodnick, Co-Founder, Elevation Partners and Anshu Sharma, Founding Investor in Nutanix, PubNub, and many others. Top 25 AngelList Syndicate. Advisor to dozen…
You'll hear a lot of tough stories here of broken friendships and all that. Yes, odds are significant that will happen. But ...
Let me simplify my learnings and observations: it can work pretty well, sometimes amazing well ... IF ... the reporting structure and roles are 100.000000% clear AND both are pretty honest about their strengths and weaknesses.
True friends (even if they aren't close friends) that are both very strong in different areas (e.g., one in sales, one in engineering) = trust + acceleration.
That can be very powerful.
But if it's not clear who the CEO is. Stop.
If it's not clear who is running the company and how, Stop.
If there isn't an understanding that your roles will change over time, and someone may end up needing to be topped, or take a different role, or just see some change ... probably ... Stop. Not for sure, but probably.
In particular, if it's friends ... it's even more important it's clear on Day 1 who the Alpha dog is. True for any co-founders, but here especially.
Let me simplify my learnings and observations: it can work pretty well, sometimes amazing well ... IF ... the reporting structure and roles are 100.000000% clear AND both are pretty honest about their strengths and weaknesses.
True friends (even if they aren't close friends) that are both very strong in different areas (e.g., one in sales, one in engineering) = trust + acceleration.
That can be very powerful.
But if it's not clear who the CEO is. Stop.
If it's not clear who is running the company and how, Stop.
If there isn't an understanding that your roles will change over time, and someone may end up needing to be topped, or take a different role, or just see some change ... probably ... Stop. Not for sure, but probably.
In particular, if it's friends ... it's even more important it's clear on Day 1 who the Alpha dog is. True for any co-founders, but here especially.
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Ahmed Barqawi, Co-founder of mobile development company, launched applications that had millions of downloads on mobile st...
I had a startup with my best friends that did not work at the end. The cons for this kind of business relation based on my experience:
Sure there are pros for friends but I answered based on your question
- You could lose your friends, because having fun with them is different when you have professional relation and money based discussion.
- If you ask them about progress "for example" the way you ask stranger they will feel annoyed since you don't trust them.
- It is not easy to manage friends, after all manager should lead the final decision.
- Old stories effect the work ! The personal opinion friends have about each other hard to change.
- You could end up with partners because they are your friends not because they have the required skills to fill a gap.
Sure there are pros for friends but I answered based on your question
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I see a lot of answers saying don't do it and while I don't disagree with them, my situation has been pretty positive.
I'm currently in a startup with two close friends and have experienced the highs and lows of what that situation can bring.
One of the friends I'd worked with previously and we've continued to have a very strong friendship and good working relationship.
The other friend, who I've been friends with since High School I had never worked with and although it's ended up being a very positive experience, it hasn't always been smooth sailing.
We both had very different ways of working and looking at problems and this caused some heavy conflict early on to the point where the friendship was basically over. Thankfully, another mutual friend got involved, reminded us why we were friends and we ended up going out for a beer and having a long chat about our history, what we were doing and where we wanted to get to.
It's all worked out and I think the answer has been, like any successful relationship, communication.
Some tips:
- Work hard, but continue to do friend things together
- Communicate
- Don't have disagreements over email (this is the big one). Pick up the phone or leave it to face to face
- Be willing to compromise
- Remember why you started working together
- Remember why you are friends
I'm currently in a startup with two close friends and have experienced the highs and lows of what that situation can bring.
One of the friends I'd worked with previously and we've continued to have a very strong friendship and good working relationship.
The other friend, who I've been friends with since High School I had never worked with and although it's ended up being a very positive experience, it hasn't always been smooth sailing.
We both had very different ways of working and looking at problems and this caused some heavy conflict early on to the point where the friendship was basically over. Thankfully, another mutual friend got involved, reminded us why we were friends and we ended up going out for a beer and having a long chat about our history, what we were doing and where we wanted to get to.
It's all worked out and I think the answer has been, like any successful relationship, communication.
Some tips:
- Work hard, but continue to do friend things together
- Communicate
- Don't have disagreements over email (this is the big one). Pick up the phone or leave it to face to face
- Be willing to compromise
- Remember why you started working together
- Remember why you are friends
Add a comment...
Alin Merches, full time learner, part time entrepreneur
I was and I am now in that situation as well or the other way around: co-founders that became friends afterwards.
But answering your question, I see no problem to have close friends as co-founders IF the roles are very well defined from the beginning. IF all the co-founders discuss very transparent and open about their dreams, visions and where do they want to go, what do they want to accomplish and so forth.
Usually friendships (or marriages in this matter) fall apart when co-founders have a hidden agenda from each other and this drives all their decision in the bad direction.
So it's not a matter of having co-founders that are close friends or not, it's a matter of the following rules/steps that applies to anyone that go in a partnership:
1) Are you truly trustable with each other and 100% honest?
2) Are your desires and targets in life somehow in the same direction with your co-founders? If so, how can this be aligned in the business you create together?
3) Did you came to an agreement (that should be written and accepted by the way) of how this common business vision will be fulfilled? (aka the strategy)
4) Did you decide who will have the CEO role in your company? Like Jason Lemkin says in his answer, that is one of the most fundamental decision that is on the base of your partnership
If you follow these rules, then if you are truly friends, nothing can stand against you even if the business fall apart or go up in the sky.
But answering your question, I see no problem to have close friends as co-founders IF the roles are very well defined from the beginning. IF all the co-founders discuss very transparent and open about their dreams, visions and where do they want to go, what do they want to accomplish and so forth.
Usually friendships (or marriages in this matter) fall apart when co-founders have a hidden agenda from each other and this drives all their decision in the bad direction.
So it's not a matter of having co-founders that are close friends or not, it's a matter of the following rules/steps that applies to anyone that go in a partnership:
1) Are you truly trustable with each other and 100% honest?
2) Are your desires and targets in life somehow in the same direction with your co-founders? If so, how can this be aligned in the business you create together?
3) Did you came to an agreement (that should be written and accepted by the way) of how this common business vision will be fulfilled? (aka the strategy)
4) Did you decide who will have the CEO role in your company? Like Jason Lemkin says in his answer, that is one of the most fundamental decision that is on the base of your partnership
If you follow these rules, then if you are truly friends, nothing can stand against you even if the business fall apart or go up in the sky.
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Ben Erez, Product Manager (2016-present)
I wrote about this in my post: 22 Mistakes I Made as a First Time Founder
Here's the excerpt about this topic...
2) Thinking that starting a company with friends is important. The first few months starting a company with your friends is an absolute blast. I mean who wouldn't want their daily schedule to revolve around hanging out with their best friends? As it turns out, if after a few months little to no significant progress has been made, you start getting over the whole "working with friends" thing. Career survival mode kicks in, and your ability to make certain changes in the company - which must be made - starts getting clouded by emotion and a deep desire to get along with your friends and not upset them. The absolute hardest part about starting my company was maintaining my friendships with my co-founders throughout the process.
Here's the excerpt about this topic...
2) Thinking that starting a company with friends is important. The first few months starting a company with your friends is an absolute blast. I mean who wouldn't want their daily schedule to revolve around hanging out with their best friends? As it turns out, if after a few months little to no significant progress has been made, you start getting over the whole "working with friends" thing. Career survival mode kicks in, and your ability to make certain changes in the company - which must be made - starts getting clouded by emotion and a deep desire to get along with your friends and not upset them. The absolute hardest part about starting my company was maintaining my friendships with my co-founders throughout the process.
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Seppo Helava, Co-Founder, Wonderspark - previously co-founded Self Aware Games
If I could give you one piece of general advice, it's "don't do it."
Start a company with someone you have a good *working* relationship with. That is, you've worked with them before in some capacity, and understand that you work well together in a high-stress *professional* capacity.
You may have a great friend who is a little bit flaky. This probably doesn't matter, because in your personal life, you don't care. But in a professional setting, this can have tremendous negative consequences. There are a billion different things like this where you may *love* someone as a friend, and *despise* them as a co-founder.
Bekijk het op deze manier - de kans is groot dat als je dit doet, je vriendschap niet zal overleven. Als je om je vriendschap geeft, dan is het het niet waard, zoek een andere medeoprichter. Als je niet om je vriendschap geeft en bereid bent om het op te offeren, vraag jezelf dan af waarom je dat zou doen, maar wil dat je als mede-oprichter bent.
Start a company with someone you have a good *working* relationship with. That is, you've worked with them before in some capacity, and understand that you work well together in a high-stress *professional* capacity.
You may have a great friend who is a little bit flaky. This probably doesn't matter, because in your personal life, you don't care. But in a professional setting, this can have tremendous negative consequences. There are a billion different things like this where you may *love* someone as a friend, and *despise* them as a co-founder.
Bekijk het op deze manier - de kans is groot dat als je dit doet, je vriendschap niet zal overleven. Als je om je vriendschap geeft, dan is het het niet waard, zoek een andere medeoprichter. Als je niet om je vriendschap geeft en bereid bent om het op te offeren, vraag jezelf dan af waarom je dat zou doen, maar wil dat je als mede-oprichter bent.
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