How to choose a business partner

http://sharedstatus.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-business-partner

by dralison • 15 years ago

19 5 15 years ago

us• 15 years ago

This is from personal experience so I want everyone reading this next comment I'm going to make with a grain of salt but in choosing a business partner, make sure you got the balls to tell them what's on your mind, good or bad. And the ability to fire them without making things awkward. If you can't treat your business partner the same way you'd honestly talk to a really good friend, you got more problems awaiting ahead than just how the startup is going. Not every person you want to partner up with will always turn out to be the right person regardless of the number of precautions you take, so just make sure you can speak freely when you need to.

dralison• 15 years ago

Being open and clear is definitely important, but so is being measured. Since I was the majority partner in my ventures I had to learn HOW to say certain things because my word carried more weight. Some times I would say things about our product direction out of frustration with a specific event—thinking out loud—and would create issues with my partners. This was especially true early on.

As our relationships evolved we learned to read each other better but it took time to get to that point.

jtnt• 15 years ago

Great post, David. In my relatively brief experience as an entrepreneur and from talking to other entrepreneurs, I and many others have encountered a lot of the pitfalls you talk about. You may have learned these from your experiences, but it is most certainly a shared experience. This should be required reading for any first-time entrepreneur. That is to say, I wish I could have read this post a few years ago.

To reiterate your first item, a DO I would suggest is DO pick a partner that can make sales and close deals. The purpose of any business is to drive revenue, so how come so few new tech entrepreneurs focus on this from the very beginning? Why do sales people get such a bad rap? They are the only people in your organization who (if done right) don't cost you money. Dev, product, marketing... they are all cost centers. Sure, product design and development is important, so is marketing and related activities, but if no one is dedicated to actively selling and crucially, closing deals, nothing else really matters (because you're out of business, literally). Moreover, an experienced and dedicated sales-focused co-founder will provide you with more actionable and relevant product feedback (i.e. direct from potential customers) than anyone else.

The old saying, mo' money mo' problems, doesn't exist in business.

segabach• 15 years ago

DON'T: Choose a partner that has a spouse/significant other who won't be supporting the business through the inevitable down times that come with launching a business.

k365• 15 years ago

Great post! Completely agree w/ "DO: Choose a partner that has connections." and "DON'T: Choose someone that has different goals."

How to choose a business partner

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