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Starting Up
Daniel TennerCofounder & CTO Woobius
danieltenner.com@swombat
with a cofounder,a partner,a friend
£1 ----------------- ??? -----------------> £2
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FAST
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FAST
Unpredictable
(£1 ----------------- ??? -----------------> £2)*N
FAST
Unpredictable
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-( :-) :-) :-( :-) :-) :-)
(£1 ----------------- ??? -----------------> £2)*N
FAST
Unpredictable
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-( :-) :-) :-( :-) :-) :-)
++
Why a cofounder?
Sanity
Stability
Persistence
Perspective
Skills
Horsepower
But...
A better process...
1. Get to know people
2. Find cofounders among them
Or...
start up with an existing friend
But...
So what can you do?
Disagreements
❖ Disagreements can happen when you haven’t discussed how to deal with things in advance.
❖ Disagreements between founders kill start-ups.
❖ Once a major disagreement is reached, it’s hard to think rationally.
Implicit Agreements
What do we both mean by... ?
Don’t assume, check.
Make agreements explicit
How?
Detail your agreements
❖ Explicit numbers
❖ “We’re going to give this 2 years”
❖ “I’ll be happy if we each make £50k/year out of this”
How?
Write things down
❖ Until it’s written down, it’s implicit
❖ People forget what they agreed
❖ Clear writing brings out disagreements
❖ Writing = coding for people
Don’t be afraid of the bad stuff
❖ Embarrassing topics
❖ People’s circumstances change
❖ Shit happens
Don’t make it work at all costs
❖ Grab opportunities - don’t jump off a cliff
❖ If there’s a major disagreement, seriously consider pulling the plug
❖ Trust your gut
In short...
❖ Starting up is awesome
❖ Starting up with a good cofounder is even better
❖ But...
In short...
❖ Make agreements explicit
❖ Detail your agreements
❖ Write things down
❖ Don’t be afraid of discussing negative scenarios
❖ Don’t make it work at all costs
Daniel TennerCofounder, Woobius
danieltenner.com@swombat
