

Resolving Co-Founder Disputes - mikeknoop
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/26/resolving-co-founder-disputes

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mhhughes8
Great piece. Thanks for sharing Mike! Check out what we're up to at
CoFoundersLab, <http://www.cofounderslab.com/>, a free online matching
platform to help entrepreneurs find the right co-founders and build lasting
business relationships.

Also, for those in LA, check out this cool workshop on Feb. 12th at Cross
Campus in Santa Monica: Building Strong Founding Teams:
<http://buildingstrongteams.eventbrite.com/>

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mikeknoop
After writing this piece and before it went live yesterday, I discovered a
really interesting interview between Leo Laporte and Alexis Ohanian where
Alexis shared their own co-founder dispute system at early Reddit:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjozYFToIM4&t=959s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjozYFToIM4&t=959s)

tl;dr early Reddit used a technique mentioned: defaulting to the person with
the most expertise.

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Ralz
Thanks this is a really good interview

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mikeknoop
I agree, the whole interview is really well done and worth watching.

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kn0thing
O hai! Thanks. It was a fun interview for me.

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chrisennis
At TechStars, they tell you on day one that not all the teams will make it
through the program intact. I've actually seen a team member leave one team
for another.

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mikeknoop
Same with YC. A few founders don't make it through the three months, some
companies merge, others dissolve completely.

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chrisennis
It's like starting a band. If you're not friends first, when friction begins,
things usually get ugly. Having the mutual respect that friendship brings will
give all parties better perspective on where everyone's interests lie.

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pan69
I think there are two ways, or two types of band organisations that can be
applied to startups. You're either a Bon Jovi or you're a U2.

In Bon Jovi, Jon Bon Jovi is the boss. He owns the company, the brand,
everything. The other guys in the band are simply his employees.

U2 is the complete opposite. The band has 5 members, the 4 you see on stage
and the manager (Paul McGuinness). These guys basically built their little
empire based on mutual respect to each other. According to the band members
it's not a democracy, it's just that the best idea is used regardless of who
came up with it. In effect, their success is built around a lack of ego, or as
Bono said it, the ego is the band not the individual members (ie. the result
is greater than the sum of its parts).

I think both approaches will work fine, however, with the U2 approach being
rare to find out in the real world but when it does occur magic happens.

