Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Founders building partnerships

Being an early founder means having to set vision, inspire, delegate, sell constantly, build trust, and play many, many, many roles in between. One role that is latent but extremely important is that of choosing partners. It is an important role that can make or break companies.

The obvious first partnership is between co-founders, the second with customers and strategic partners, and the third with investors. What you look for in each of these is different in many ways but there are some commonalities that are significant.

The main things to be sure that these partnerships have are:

  1. A solid foundation:No lasting partnership can’t be built based on deception or untruths. Gauge early talks for transparency and honesty. Without these, there is no need to go forward.
  2. Common or complimentary purpose: The best partnerships are synergistic. Take for example strategic partners: co-branding a product or cross-promotion works best when each party equally contributes and benefits. Contribution can be time, money, effort, customers, or product. Another example would be co-founders: the vision and drive must be shared or the partnership will likely not last.
  3. A commitment to ensure that each partner benefits: As partners, you must have each other’s best interest in mind. I’ve spoken to many founders that kept pushing themselves through hard times not just for themselves and their employees, but also for the investors that had backed them when no one else would. This commitment can go far but requires the other pieces to be in place. Partnership based on obligation is not enough.
  4. Trust: Trust is the ultimate key to a good partnership. Without trust, co-founders micromanage and exhibit subversive behavior. This then trickles down into the culture and companies implode. If an investor loses trust in a founder, they will also micromanage and most likely take action to replace the founder at the earliest opportunity. Similarly, an untrusting relationship for a founder toward their investor is toxic and jeopardizes the future success of the company. Trust is the most important thing.

Choose your partners wisely

Although it is true that there are desperate times where it’s tough to choose your partner and people have to take what they have vs. what they would choose, do consider that the alternative (a reluctant partnership) often brings you to a much slower and painful demise. Sometimes sticking it out and saying no will yield to better outcomes.

For example, picking an investor. There have been many who have said, I’m not in a position to make a choice and will take money wherever it comes from. I caution, there is such a thing as bad money (and dumb money is no better). If you focus on revenues in times where the options don’t seem great, you can often end in a better place and perhaps find a better partner down the line.

Similarly for a co-founder, if you have any reservations, this is an equally dangerous bad partnership to engage in. There is a good reason that this relationship is compared to being married, and trust me the divorce can often be the nasty kind. This is not a relationship to rush into or be cavalier about as it is a big commitment where you have to be making big decisions and spending a lot of time together. Be sure the foundations are strong and the goals aligned.

With customers, particularly early customers, you are going to be dedicating a lot of time to them and making key decisions about your product and business based on them. Be sure that you are focusing on the right customer and that the time you spend on them is moving your business in the right direction. Every good marketer knows that there are bad customers and that your product should not be for everyone, keep that in mind as you build your base. The same applies to strategic partners.

Overall, founders will continually be faced with the challenge of when to say yes or no to a possible partnership, and which to pursue or not. These decisions can change the course of the company, so keeping the four checks above are imperative. Certainly, we really don’t know whether our decisions were “right” or “wrong” until the outcomes are known, but often there are signs along the way if we read them. If you sense you made the wrong decision, try to correct it quickly, because just like a bad hire can harm your company deeply, a bad partnership can most definitely do the same.

Privacy Settings
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy