

Ask HN: what disputes can arise between co-founders? - adrianwaj

I am wondering about disputes that can arise between co-founders.<p>Founders can begin as friends but end-up sacrificing this in the process of starting-up.<p>Specifically, I'm thinking about conflicts that can arise between remote cofounders.<p>But generally, what are the serious or common disputes to think about that can be avoided or resolved?<p>Ideally, would only one founder with hired staff that have equity bonuses for retention be best?
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wheels
That's kind of like asking, "What disputes can arise in a long-distance
relationship?" It's naturally a pretty open question.

In general, I don't think doing the whole remote-founders thing is a good idea
for the same reason that it's probably not a good idea in a long term
relationship. There are just too many points that you need to be able to sync
up on.

When you get into a startup, just like a relationship, you enter with a
picture of a person that hasn't been through the full-on trial-by-fire. When
you turn up the pressure and leave it that way for an extended period of time,
cracks in that picture always start to emerge.

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adrianwaj
Right, echoes with this thread:

"..The number one thing that caused the unsuccessful companies to fail was
fights between the co-founders. And the successful ones-- were ones where the
co-founders were very harmonious, because they had worked together for years
before founding the company (multiple instances of this.) Of course, there
were also instances where co-founders had worked before and they still fought
all the time.."

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=77246> (94 points)

thanks

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JangoSteve
I would say they always come in two varieties: a) disagreements on some future
action, methodology, goals, etc., and b) disagreements on past action (e.g. is
the other person pulling their weight, being effective, etc). And of course,
the latter usually leads to the former, because once you're convinced the
other person isn't pulling their weight, you have to figure out what to do
about it.

Beyond that, it's hard to say exactly what you'll find to disagree on. But
don't worry, you'll definitely find something to disagree on. In fact, if you
never disagree on anything, then you're probably missing out on all of the
advantages of having a cofounder as well.

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jacquesm
The most common one is about whether or not the other parties are pulling
their weight (because you can't see when / if they are working), and decisions
regarding the direction to take.

