
Ask HN: What Are the Qualities to Look for in a Co-Founder? - motohagiography
If you were looking for a co-founder and knew 30-40 people, what 3-5 personal qualities would you use as criteria to stack rank them as options? Given those, what is one dealbreaker?
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this2shallPass
1\. Honesty / integrity / transparency 2\. Grit / persistence 3\. Openness to
feedback / help / learning / collaboration 4\. Ability to adapt to changing
circumstances 5\. Communicates effectively - listens, conveys ideas well in
writing and when speaking 6\. Kindness / empathy / reasonable expectations
about projects / companies / start ups, customers, you, themselves, etc. 7\.
Reliability 8\. Complements your weaknesses and key strengths. Is valuable to
the business you're trying to build together at an early stage. Knows the
space, how to build companies, how to code, design, sell, something valuable
early - or, they can learn fast.

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softwarefounder
Look at their track record, or lack thereof.

Easy for non-technical co-founders especially to talk big. Also, talk to users
or co-founders that worked with them, and under them.

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rl3
Ethical, high-caliber, genuinely nice with a high degree of empathy. Bonus
points if they've lived without the benefit of a silver spoon their entire
life.

Unfortunately you can't really determine these quickly, you pretty much have
to know the person first. Public or second-hand reputation unfortunately isn't
always trustworthy.

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samdwilson
Trust is one of the more important and obvious traits. I also think
versatility is critical too. Someone who doesn't want to do something because
"it is the other person's job" It's important for all cofounders to be willing
to do what is necessary for the business to be a success.

