S’associer : la checklist ! Mes 6 plus grosses erreurs d’association | Sylvain Tillon, Entrepreneur | Après relecture, la liste d’erreurs est assez effrayante… Mais si elle peut aider certains à les éviter, je la partage ! Je ne vise évidemment aucun de mes anciens associés, c’est bien moi qui ai fait les erreurs. 1) M’associer avec une personne parce que je ne me fais pas assez confiance pour y aller seul Cela m’est déjà arrivé au moins 2 fois… C’est dur d’y aller seul ! Alors j’ai souvent préféré partager le pouvoir. En effet, comment justifier que j’ai + de parts/actions alors qu’on a un parcours assez similaire, des compétences équivalentes et un apport en capital identique ?
Dans ma première boîte, je me suis associé avec un bon copain de l’EM. 2) Ne pas connaître mes compétences… ni celles de mon associé ! 3) Ne pas travailler dans le même endroit que mon autre associé Difficile alors de partager les bonnes nouvelles, d’échanger sur les idées de développement et d’avancer rapidement. NB : Je suis resté très proche du seul investisseur qui avait dit NON, Gérald Enrico. Bosser avec un pote, est-ce une bonne idée ? | Sylvain Tillon, Entrepreneur | L’une des grandes peurs face à la création d’entreprise est de créer seul. Et je la comprends totalement, je n’ai jamais réussi à créer seul… Mais pourtant, doit-on s’associer avec son pote ?
Ou pire, son meilleur pote ? Avantages : - on partage des valeurs similaires (normalement…) - on a plus facilement des moments « off » avec son associé - la phase d’approche (ou séduction) est beaucoup plus courte (ou inexistante) - l’excitation de travailler ensemble est très forte les premiers mois ! Inconvénients : Conclusion : Un pacte d’associés est indispensable, et c’est encore + vrai quand on s’associe avec un pote !!! Question à se poser en amont de l’association : Pourquoi a-t-on besoin de s’associer : manque de confiance, besoin de compétences ou besoin de cash ?
Ne pas oublier : Une mauvaise association est la 2ème plus forte cause d’échec des startups ! Share and Enjoy » Mes erreurs » Bosser avec un pote, est-ce une bonne... About the Author: Sylvain Tillon « Réunion 3+ / 3- Presse et Média » Triangulation 87: Alexis Ohanian. Resolving Co-Founder Disputes. Editor’s note: Mike Knoop is co-founder of Zapier. Follow him on Twitter @mikeknoop. In the summer 2012 batch, one in four Y Combinator companies lost a founder.
It’s not hard to conclude that startup co-founder disputes are universal. They range from the big decisions (What should our product do? Should we hire? I have identified a few trends from my experience with my startup Zapier. Start With Your Surroundings Surrounding myself with like-minded founders has preempted many arguments from occurring in the first place — because we already agree! Define A Tie-Breaker Policy We do not resolve every dispute. Another tie-breaker is simply to default to the person with more expertise in the area of debate. Practice Empathy I always try to remember: every (good-faith) founder only wants what is best for the company. A Zapier Example Allow me to highlight a real-world example by describing a problem, dispute, and resolution we had at Zapier: deciding on our name. The hunt was on for a new name. How do you find a badass co-founder. Finding a co-founder is damn hard In the last couple months, I’ve been keeping an open eye out on finding a high-quality co-founder for the startup I’m doing as part of my EIR gig.
Ultimately, the scarcest commodity in the entrepreneurial community is NOT venture capital money – there are billions out there – but rather very high quality people. In particular, the highest quality people out there turn into co-founders, so that’s incredibly important. In particular, a co-founder’s able to help balance you out, especially on mood. So if you are both in a room, the startup is on the rocks, and you say, “god we’re fucked!” Then sometimes your co-founder will say, “well, why don’t we do X.” How many co-founders? Of course there are exceptions like VMWare, which had 6 co-founders that all did well. What defines a good co-founder? Long answer is, I’ve done a lot of talking and thinking about the issue, and I think I know what is good for me (and maybe me only).
Ten attributes of your ideal business partner - National Startup Business. A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “How to Select an Ideal Startup Co-Founder”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal business partner. Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for. In this article, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. In all cases, the challenge is the same, of finding people that you can work with and enjoy in the business relationship.
The relationship has to have trust, communication, and respect in order to work. Otherwise, like a marriage, it will be doomed to constant conflict, second guessing, and unhappiness. Enjoy working with other people. 4 common mistakes in picking a co-founder. (Editor’s note: Scott Edward Walker is the founder and CEO of Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC, a law firm specializing in the representation of entrepreneurs. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.) A reader asks: I’m a first-time entrepreneur, and I’ve been working on a new e-commerce site for about six months. I outsourced the development work, but now I’m thinking it would be better to bring on a technical co-founder to handle those duties.
What do I need to watch out for? Answer: Picking the right co-founder(s) is arguably the most important step you can take in starting your business. But the decision isn’t always an easy one. Keeping in mind that I’m an attorney – and have a different perspective than, say, a serial entrepreneur – here are four of the most common mistakes I’ve seen: Jumping in too fast - Ideally, your co-founder should be someone you know really well and whom you trust. Non-competition provisions may also be appropriate in certain circumstances. 3 Questions Technical Entrepreneurs Have For Potential Co-Founders. I sometimes see folks at a Bootstrapper Breakfasts® make brief presentations where they are looking for co-founders but say that they are in “stealth mode” or are otherwise unwilling to describe any specifics of what they are working on.
For the most part they get no response: neither direct interest from people at the table nor offers to connect them with someone who might be a fit. If you are looking for a co-founder you should at least be able to talk in detail about the problem you want to tackle and your background and why it’s helpful for solving the problem if you want to energize people enough to contact you. Even if your firm is in “stealth mode” you should disclose your bio and background since that’s the first thing you are going to ask someone who contacts you.
If you are a business oriented entrepreneur looking for a technical co-founder(s) to work for equity you need to pass three tests almost immediately: What all does a non-technical co founder do in a SaaS / Mobile application startup? « Be a Force of Good. If you are non-technical co founder at a startup that’s primarily a consumer web / SaaS or Mobile application company, there’s only ONE thing you should be focused on: A plan to acquire, nurture and grow users (customers) with as little money as possible. With a caveat – you should not use any of your technical cofounder’s time (once a week update / meeting to discuss progress is okay) to achieve your goal. If you do that, it takes away from building the product. Dont waste your time on “legal paperwork”, “office space hunting”, “attending networking events” or “talking to lots of people to get advice”.
User acquisition involves multiple steps that you need to do in a disciplined fashion: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. You can call this anything you please – Marketing, Hustling, Selling, Community building, User acquisition, etc. Each of these are very measurable. 1. Nothing else matters. Like this: Like Loading... The Co-Founder Matching Problem « Chris McCann's Personal Blog. S’'associer : la checklist ! How To Choose A Co-Founder. Questions to Ask Potential Cofounders: The Master List. Jessica Alter | December 3rd, 2012 We often get asked what cofounders should look for or ask each other.
We combined our knowledge with insight from our community to create a master list of questions to ask potential cofounders, or rather to make sure you cover (going to down the list one-by-one might be awkward). We’ve broken them down into four categories – Personalities and Incentives, Personal Priorities, Working Styles and Culture, Roles and Responsibilities - that really reflect the areas we find are key to matching up. Personalities and Incentives - you have to spend a lot of time together, just having complementary skill-sets isn’t going to cut it. You really need to have chemistry and be aligned on why you’re building a company. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
What is the expected time commitment (now, in 6 months, 2 years, etc.)? 7. 8. Personal Priorities - risk tolerance varies by individual, so make sure you know where the other stands and that you’re both comfortable with it. 1. 2. 3. 4.