In the beginning we drew up diagrams for database tables, wrote out what made us different from competitors, why people would like us, wrote a version of the site, then scrapped all of it and rewrote everything multiple times over in several months. At this point it was just us doing this in our spare time.
As time went by, I realized my cofounder wasn't going to give up as much as I was willing to, and that's when I realized I need a backup plan or two. My cf is a great hacker and decent at design, so one plan was to go solo, but my design sucked. Another plan was a different site where design didn't matter, so I decided to work on this second site while waiting for my cf to switch from a second job freelancing to rejoining the project. Lesson here is simply have backup plans.
Finally his girlfriend broke up with him and we are bros again. He put down the framework for our new attack plan and I started hacking away on the meat of it. He refused to keep working until we talked with clients, so I set up some meetings. Now I'm hacking half the time, doing the business side the other half, and maybe a couple hours for eating and spending time on HN and so on. After meeting with clients to find out what they want, I was sure he would be into it. Wrong. Now I have to handle clients which means a lot of socializing and a lot less hacking, yet I have to code the four or five features that the clients requested.
You may think get another founder, but you guessed it, I tried. I know several people who would make great founders. The problem is that they can't give up their social lives and that's really what you have to do until you can hire people to take some of the weight off your shoulders. Specifically, girls are a major interest to them. And as most of us know, having a girlfriend (or wife in one case) is a full time job.
So be prepared to multitask and try to account for losing your founder (I never thought it would happen: I've known mine since 1st grade). Also have a backup plan and maybe learn what you are weak at (design in my case) to a reasonable competency.
I think you're perhaps expecting your cofounder to approach problems exactly the same way you do. You shouldn't be looking for someone just like you to be your cofounder. Differences are often strengths.
What you need to be doing is looking for someone that delivers on the things you need them to deliver. Not someone that works in the same way and to the same exact schedule you do. My cofounder produces a helluva lot more code than I ever could, and he's always been part-time in the company (but he has equal stake, for a number of reasons beyond being an absolute monster at producing code).
That's not to say you don't need someone who will be all-in. You do. You definitely need dedication. But, it doesn't necessarily look the same as your dedication.
I did at first, and you are right that it is a mistake. The key problem is inconsistency. Nothing wrong with working differently, taking weekends off or whatever. But girls and freelancing are higher priorities to him. Why shouldn't they be? From a perspective of psychology immediate rewards drive behavior; distant rewards have little effect.
So absolutely not true. I've been at this awhile, and have had my fair share of success (and failure as well).
The idea that you have to go, go, go to the detriment of your social life is just silly. It's part of the myth of the startup, not the reality. Founders love to talk about how hard they work, but in my experience the good ones find real balance between work and life.
I work a 50'ish hour week. I don't kill myself. I take the weekends off. I spend time with my wife and friends on a regular basis. We get things done, we ship early, and we have really made huge headway on all facets of company building... and have done it while maintaining our friendships and marriages as well.
Working a ton of hours isn't going to make you successful. Hell, the most likely outcome is that the stress and demands of that pace will do nothing but limit your ability to make good decisions.
So absolutely not true.
Ben Franklin would have issued you a pecuniary penalty.
The reality is that it varies. You can't claim just because your startup is working out fine with 50 hours a week of work that other startups don't need more attention. The complexity of each startup is different; the number of founders is different; the amount of time a founder commits varies; and so on.
I should have been more blunt about my co-founder: full time job, girlfriend, side work freelancing, drinking with friends on weekends, and a startup. Do you really think it is possible to juggle all of that?
In the beginning we drew up diagrams for database tables, wrote out what made us different from competitors, why people would like us, wrote a version of the site, then scrapped all of it and rewrote everything multiple times over in several months. At this point it was just us doing this in our spare time.
As time went by, I realized my cofounder wasn't going to give up as much as I was willing to, and that's when I realized I need a backup plan or two. My cf is a great hacker and decent at design, so one plan was to go solo, but my design sucked. Another plan was a different site where design didn't matter, so I decided to work on this second site while waiting for my cf to switch from a second job freelancing to rejoining the project. Lesson here is simply have backup plans.
Finally his girlfriend broke up with him and we are bros again. He put down the framework for our new attack plan and I started hacking away on the meat of it. He refused to keep working until we talked with clients, so I set up some meetings. Now I'm hacking half the time, doing the business side the other half, and maybe a couple hours for eating and spending time on HN and so on. After meeting with clients to find out what they want, I was sure he would be into it. Wrong. Now I have to handle clients which means a lot of socializing and a lot less hacking, yet I have to code the four or five features that the clients requested.
You may think get another founder, but you guessed it, I tried. I know several people who would make great founders. The problem is that they can't give up their social lives and that's really what you have to do until you can hire people to take some of the weight off your shoulders. Specifically, girls are a major interest to them. And as most of us know, having a girlfriend (or wife in one case) is a full time job.
So be prepared to multitask and try to account for losing your founder (I never thought it would happen: I've known mine since 1st grade). Also have a backup plan and maybe learn what you are weak at (design in my case) to a reasonable competency.