

Ask HN: Co-founding with very close friend - codegeek

I have a very close friend who wants to co-found with me. We both are wannabe entrepreneurs who have many ideas but no execution. We keep talking about ideas day and night.<p>The problem: my friend has no technical ability and neither does he have any business experience. He wants to co-found just because he is sick of the 9-5 stuff and wants to do his own thing. I am hesitant to just co-found with him for 50% because he and I are discussing ideas.<p>I don&#x27;t want to come off as mean&#x2F;rude to him but the fact is that I don&#x27;t really see him bringing a lot of value to the table, at least immediately. To compare, I have taught myself a lot in the last 1-2 years including building web apps. I believe I can get a duct taped web app prototype done by myself. I also have done a lot of research on markets, customer valudations etc. Having said that, I do think that he has a few things to offer but not necessarily as a 50% partner. Bottomline, he could be a potential employee and <i>may be</i> convert to a co-founder later with &lt;50% equity. How can I talk to him about this ? Has anyone been in similar situation ?
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lun4r
50/50 partnerships can be hugely unstable. google around a bit on this topic
before making any decision. (e.g.
[http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/05/09/the-co-
founder...](http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/05/09/the-co-founder-
mythology/) and
[http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2014/01/02/understanding-...](http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2014/01/02/understanding-
the-politics-of-tech-startups/))

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codegeek
Thanks. That is some good info.

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brudgers
Which is worth more: 60% of zero or 50% of zero?

Which is worth more: a partner who feels mistreated or one that feels they
have been treated fairly?

None of which is to suggest that you should ignore your misgivings. Rather to
suggest that if you decide to partner with your friend, don't load your
relationship down with petty emotional baggage - none of your rationales for
equity are related to beating the long odds which mean most startups to fail.

Good luck.

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nicholas73
I think bottom line is that you need to figure out if the execution can be
done with him, within a certain time period. If not, what are your other
options. It seems like you don't want to partner with him.

In the scheme of things, the absolute equity percentage is not that important
(diminishing marginal utility of money). Also in the scheme of things, 1-2
years hacking isn't that much either. So don't make it about fair share. Make
it just about whether it's a right fit or not.

Is this person honest, hardworking, bright? Or is he a schemer, short-cutter,
and a bullshitter? If he is the latter, just tell him straight up you don't
think he has the right skills for it to work. If the former, have him start
building things or selling to customers. Pretty soon he'll figure out on his
own whether he wants to or can continue. Make it clear it's a valueless
exploration period and don't sign any agreements until the project is more
mature. Maybe he'll develop into a good partner in the future, without any
obligation from you.

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27182818284
>my friend has no technical ability

In my experience moving forward, I won't do this again. It is just the little
things. You get sick of explaining words like monotonically or whatever that
comes up. I don't think you need a hacker/PhD cofounder, but they need to have
some tech-savvyness if it is a tech-based startup. It will just make life
easier.

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coralreef
If you know he doesn't understand technical lingo, why do you throw it at him?

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27182818284
I don't "throw" it. I speak the way I normally speak. It has come up as a
problem before with non-jargony terms too. I'll use something like "modus
operandi" or whatever and get blank stares from people. Actually, a recent one
I remember using that got blank stares was just "cryptography". That was
actually awesome because I knew the etymology off the top of my head, so
teaching that one was fun.

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ycmike
I recently watched an interview with Brian Chesky (Airbnb) and he said how
he's only as smart as those he surrounds himself with. I'm finding that out
the hard way. It's a big world and the people around you are not the only ones
to choose from. I'm on a mission to meet new people.

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bliti
_The problem: my friend has no technical ability and neither does he have any
business experience._

How would you overcome that while at the same time being productive?

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moron4hire
Be the adult in your relationship and tell him no. What is worse, pissing off
your friend a little bit _now_ , but he eventually gets over it when you bring
over a six-pack and the Speed DVD, or pissing him off 6 months from now when
you kick him off the project because he's dragging you down? There ain't no
amount of beer and Keanu that heal _that_ feeling of betrayal.

