How To Select the Right Cofounder For Your Startup

Five traits that have nothing to do with skills or experience

Should you bring on a cofounder to build out your tech? Should you bring on a cofounder to kickstart your sales? Should you bring on a cofounder to connect you to funding?

No.

One of the worst mistakes a founder can make is believing that a business problem can be solved by bringing on a cofounder.

It seems like an easy and convenient solution, giving up a few percentage points for what could be tens of thousands of dollars worth of progress. But nothing kills a young startup quicker than bringing on a cofounder to do task work and then outgrowing them shortly after those tasks are completed.

How you select and vet a cofounder has nothing to do with what your company needs to get done, it has everything to do with what your company is going to become.

Here’s what you should be looking for.

Cofounders, partners, bosses, and employees

Those are basically the four foundational categories of people you work with. The latter two have very much a traditional vertical relationship. Cofounders and partners have more of a lateral relationship, although they’re…