Ask HN: Founder vs Co-Founder title etiquette

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1637328

by engdinn • 16 years ago

3 4 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

If person A founds a company, and several months later person B joins as a co-founder, what is the proper title etiquette for person A?

Is person A now a co-founder, or does person A still retain the title of founder, while person B has the title of co-founder?

cristinacordova• 16 years ago

both person A and person B are co-founders.

charliepark• 16 years ago

As an example of this, look at BankSimple. Josh and Shamir had been working for several months on the business deals and the beginning of the technology stack. They brought Alex on months later, but all three are now considered co-founders. Obviously, your situation could be different, but if the person's coming on as a partner, and not as an employee, then I'd go with "co-founder" for all involved.

fezzl• 16 years ago

What do you mean by "founds a company"? Have an idea, create a product, incorporate, have paying customers, etc.?

ScottWhigham• 16 years ago

Right - I have trouble with this too. How does person B join an already established, built company as a "co-founder"?

Ask HN: Founder vs Co-Founder title etiquette

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