
My wife is my co-founder, is that going to be a problem? - op2ed
Hello, I applied in the S17 batch with my co-founder&#x2F;wife and I was wondering if it will hurt or help us because we are married? We do have a very strong connection - having hitchhiked Asia and the Middle east together(including war zones) and we literally saved each other&#x27;s lives, so perhaps if there is any bias against married people, this will prevent it?
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WheelsAtLarge
In business you're going to have to make some decisions were you will disagree
with each other. Unfortunately this will carry over to your personal
relationship. Personal to business disagreements will also happen. If you can,
avoid putting extra stress on your marriage. It's hard enough to stay married
in general. You can say the same thing for the business. Also, it's nice to
remove yourself from the stress of work. It's going to be so much harder when
your wife is going thru the same stress.

In short, don't do it. It's not worth the extra stress.

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op2ed
Well the issue with us is that our business was born out of our abilities,
alone the business would fall apart. For now, we have no choice to be co-
founders. But thank you for your input.

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CyberFonic
It depends. Your past experiences certainly suggest that you work together
well on an adventure and facing crisis - both of which are common with
startups. I did read somewhere that the husband and wife co-founders of VmWare
maintained a professional separation of responsibilities and decision making.
They upheld this when facing staff, investors and other outsiders. They only
did "couple things" at home and with friends. In business they were like any
other co-founders.

My take is that when you travel and have adventures, you strive to be similar
and match your interests and abilities. In business you need to focus on your
specific competencies. You will need to assign responsibilities and stick to
them. Otherwise you end up constantly debating every decision and that slows
things down. But these are generalisations. Your specific abilities might
suggest novel ways of working together.

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op2ed
Thanks for the input, it is inspiring and rather useful for us.

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sixQuarks
They say co-founder relationships are like a marriage, so since you're already
in a marriage with your co-founder, and assuming you guys have a good
relationship where you can openly communicate and understand each other, you
should be good.

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bsvalley
Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston (husband/wife) co-founded YC... a company
you might have heard of.

So the answer is No.

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ajeet_dhaliwal
Two of the co-founders of YC are now husband and wife, although I have no idea
if they were together at the start. It appears they have also accepted a
husband and wife team before . Not sure whether they factor for this one way
or the other.

Personally I couldn't do it with my wife, that's just the nature of our
relationship. Last thing I want to waste time doing while starting up is have
to give out constant hugs because I was too harsh in my criticism or
disagreement about something. However everyone's relationship is different
good luck to you if yours is one of those.

Also aside, is it wise to be hitch hiking through middle east war zones? The
last thing I'm sure anyone here wants to see is you and your wife on the news
cowering while someone threatens to cut your heads off.

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eksurfus
I co-founded a company with my boyfriend of 1.5 years, who later became my
husband. Our company has been bootstrapped and profitable for the last 8
years. Initially, we were both slightly embarrassed to be both co-founders and
in a relationship, but as time went on (and especially in moving to SV) we
realized this is incredibly common. Its also very common to co-found with a
sibling, cousin or other family member. The reality is that running a company
is incredibly hard, and you need to be able to trust your co-founding team
members. Family members (by blood or marriage), if you are lucky, are often
the people you trust the most.

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cbhl
I have seen many couples break up after co-founding a failed startup. Granted,
this is at the college/university level, and it sounds like you have a bit
more experience under your belt.

But do make sure that you both accept the risk that the startup could result
in your divorce _and_ in business failure.

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sikan
YC is started by a married couple.

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rajacombinator
Presumably all married couples have a strong connection ... I'd also presume
most investors would see it as a net negative, so your overall pitch will have
to be that much stronger.

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seige
No. I see it as an asset as trust levels are incredibly higher. It will also
help in decoupling the highs and lows of business from the individuals.

Godspeed to you and your wife!

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wmf
Cisco and VMware were also started by married couples.

(Now I'm wondering how many YCers haven't heard of either company.)

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and0
Please tell me this is satire.

