

Ask HN: When is the best time to bring on a co-founder? - matthodan

If someone with more karma would repost as a poll, I'd be appreciative :)<p>Otherwise:<p><pre><code>    a) Pre-idea
    b) Post-idea, but pre-demo
    c) Post-demo, but pre-validation
    d) Post-validation, but pre-launch
    e) Post-launch, but pre-funding
    f) Post-funding</code></pre>
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coryl
The absolute BEST time? Would probably have to be a). Preferred times are b).
Worst time is c) and beyond

I've only had experience working with my one childhood friend whom I've co-
founded all my projects with. We've worked together since we were kids,
building dinky static web pages with Dreamweaver. So I've never had the
experience of bringing on another co-founder, or working with someone I didn't
have an extensive history with.

The reason I think its A) is because its not quite as important as to WHEN
your co-founder joins, but WHO you co-founder actually is. A friend or someone
you've worked with in the past is someone you can trust. Someone you can trust
is someone you can bounce ideas off of and have "chemistry" with. The sooner
the two of you have your brains firing off and inspiring each other with a
concept or product, the better. This means you can argue sooner, and shape out
what it is you want to build far more effectively. Ideas will constantly
change, but the person you're stuck with will not. So the sooner you find the
right person, the better!

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gallerytungsten
Somewhere in the a-b-c range.

The question of when will depend on a number of variables that you can only
answer depending on the specific situation.

More importantly, ask yourself how much risk will the potential co-founder be
taking on? In stages a-b-c there's plenty of risk; after f; there's not so
much. If your potential co-founder is unwilling or unable to assume a
significant amount of risk, relative to yours, then they're more of an
employee than a co-founder.

Something you'll discover is that there are plenty of people who want the "co-
founder" title but aren't willing to assume a commensurate amount of risk.
They'll tell you to go out and get the money, then they'll jump in once you've
guaranteed their paycheck. Avoid these people.

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YuriNiyazov
Let's talk about a) only.

It depends on who this cofounder is and what role he is going to play. Does he
have a narrow skill or market experience that is useful for a specific idea?
Then post-idea. Is this someone with whom you've had rapport for a long time
and many times said "hmm, it would be nice if we worked together on
something"? Then pre-idea.

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collegeportalme
Before validation for sure. If you are too far along, it would extremely hard
to share the same enthusiasm for things.

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amorphid
When you have a good pitch, money to spend, and it makes sense to give away
part of the company to get what you want.

