Starting a Startup

Of all the things people tweet about online regarding startups, I've not seen a single one about cofounder dynamics. Yet, in my experience, cofounder dynamics are one of, if the not the, most important aspect of a young startup.

Cofounders can argue and disagree. Individuals have egos sand insecurities. People have different backgrounds that have ingrained different work habits and value systems. Everyone has their own unique personality, with its strengths and weaknesses.

This weltering cauldron may create resentment, bitterness, frustration, demotivation, sadness, anxiety, and anger.

At its best, the sum is greater than the parts, and the combination of different skillsets and viewpoints creates a group able to meet any challenge and shore up its own weaknesses.

We, right now, have some of those issues. How do you deliver feedback to one another? How do you hold each other to standards? How do you deal with feelings of unfairness? What do you do with emotions of bitterness and frustration that don't seem decrease over time?

I don't have the answers to all these things, but these things are quite important. Nobody seems to be interested in asking many questions about them, though. Most startup material talks about markets and selling and how to raise funding and create a good product. Few, if any, talks about navigating cofounder dynamics and managing these relationships. Perhaps there's survivorship bias, in that all successful companies have figured out how to solve those issues, while all unsuccessful companies have failed at them, and nobody looks at cofounder dynamics to see if they contributed to the success of the successful and the failure of the failed.