Worth Seeking a Non-Technical coFounder?

2 pointsthelonecabbage15y ago2 comments

I am nearing completion of the technical & design aspects of my startup; something in the personal-growth space. I'm not starving, but not long on cash either. The particular startup is really targeted at generating revenue, not growing fast and flipping.

I can think of a few reasons why bringing on a partner would help.

Moral support Share the financial burden Possible expertise in marketing or the self-help market Extra pair of hands dealing with customers and marketing tasks

On the down side, as a revenue startup the lighter the load the lower the bar for success needs to be. And to make it worth their while I'd have to give up quite a lot of equity.

Opinions? Alternatives?

2 comments

2 comments · 2 top-level

hga15y ago

Moral support and Share the financial burden are very strong reasons to give up quite a bit of equity.

The nasty problem I see here is the same as the usual big one for those seeking a technical co-founder: if you don't already know this person, what are the odds you're going to find a right one? This is something like a marriage without the usual benefit of dating etc. ahead of time and if you pick wrong it's very unlikely your venture will survive.

Mz15y ago

Can you do some outsourcing for things like marketing expertise or help dealing with customers? Can you cut costs to address the financial "horizon" issue?

Using the marriage analogy, "shotgun weddings" sometimes work because the baby keeps people together. If this is not their baby (ie they weren't in on it from the get go), well, it looks a lot tougher to me to make it stick.

Good luck with this.

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