Ask HN: How many co-founders is too many?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2836309

by crockstar • 15 years ago

5 8 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has founded a startup about whether there are occassions in which you would want any more than one other co-founder and whether there is a limit on how many you think are appropriate? I'm not particularly savvy on startup culture but could reasonably justify up to 2-3 other co-founders depending on skillset. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts based on experience!

glimcat3• 15 years ago

It varies a lot. From what I've seen, two is most common and more than 5-6 is a bit odd. More than about 8-10 is hard for sociological reasons.

How well the team integrates and works together and whether or not you have adequate skill coverage is more important than the exact number.

crockstar• 15 years ago

So having 4 total (3 others) wouldn't be out of the question if all brought different skills to the table? Thanks for your thoughts, would love to get some other opinions too!

glimcat3• 15 years ago

For reference:

http://ycombinator.com/apply.html

"The ideal company would have two or three founders. We'll consider those with four or five. We're reluctant to accept one-person companies, though we have funded a couple."

If there's a strong justification, there's no reason not to have four cofounders. If it's just because that many people wanted to collaborate, you might want to take a hard look about who is going to commit to contribute what. To go with a common illustration, founding means "you're the pig" (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/The_Chicken_a...).

fezzl• 15 years ago

I wouldn't go more than 2. 1 is optimum to start out with, IMO.

jarrettcoggin• 15 years ago

What is your basis? Why do you believe that 1 is optimum?

glimcat3• 15 years ago

If you have an idea you're interested in working on for several years of your life, it makes sense to start researching it and proofing the concept ASAP.

isakib• 15 years ago

Yes, 2 is the best choice. I have recent experiences. We have the idea (3 founders), we started our works but suddenly we are having face some problem. Two is free and one is busy with something else -- it started happening frequently. Two are technically skilled and one is business guy. But over our before to born our startups, we had to close everything. Because, it's not the way. Also, see the history, the million dollar companies like Google, Yahoo, HP and so on companies. Also, checkout youtube.com (3 founders) there were communication/ jawad has time issues) -- though it was million dollar company, just becuase of the dedication of two others founders :). It doesn't happen all the time.

VicT11• 15 years ago

In my experience (which isn't a ton), I really enjoyed having 3 person co-founding team. As far as decision making it helps to have that number of people to help settle debates. Strictly on that level it was a positive as long as there is a level of cooperation and dedication with everyone.

Ask HN: How many co-founders is too many?

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