3 reasons why having cofounders is mandatory

May 29, 2019

Having cofounders enable you to focus on doing only what you are best at, get emotional support and mitigate risks.

After figuring out the start-up idea and getting feedback from the network, the next important step for an entrepreneur is finding one or several cofounders. Sure, an entrepreneur can finish all kinds of tasks to establish his or her own start-up. But having several cofounders brings a lot of benefits to the entrepreneur, as well as to the start-up.

A co-founder is somebody who founded a company with at least one other person. When companies are formed, co-founders own all the shares of the company. In other words, they are owners of the company. Thus, whoever founded the company can be titled “co-founder.”

There are several reasons why having several cofounders is advantageous or even necessary.

First, cofounders can provide technical support.

Usually, an entrepreneur is only an expert in certain aspects. For example, a businessman whose background is marketing may be good at promoting a product but knows nothing about programming or design. However, a co-founder whose major in college is computer science can help the businessman with certain tasks in which he or she is not specialized. This is why specializing and doing what you do best, will lead you to success and stop wasting your valuable time doing the wrong things yourself.

For example, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are co-founders for Apple Inc. Wozniak is an expert in computer science, while Jobs is specialized in business. Wozniak built the computer in the first place. Jobs saw the potential to sell the computer. Their skill sets compensate and support each other.

Secondly, cofounders provide emotional support to each other.

Establishing a start-up can be lonely, anxiety inducing, and difficult. According to a study by Michael Freeman, a psychologist, entrepreneurs are 50% more likely to report having a mental health condition. Additionally, 72% of entrepreneurs surveyed self-reported mental health concerns. With fierce competition and heavy stress, it is nice to have a co-founder whom a founder can lean on.

Multiple organizations’ co-founders are close friends. Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the co-founders for Microsoft, are childhood friends since their childhood. So are Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield who founded Ben & Jerry’s. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, the founders for Hewlett-Packard, met each other in Stanford and became friends later. Those couples of co-founders supported each other emotionally and is part of why they were able to become successful.

Third, having cofounders mitigates the risks.

Building a start-up on one’s own is like a dictatorship that makes one entrepreneur undertake all the consequences from the decision he or she made. Sometimes, a founder may neglect certain elements when making decisions. However, co-founders from different backgrounds may provide diverse perspectives. Having different advice often is helpful to a start-up.

Robert S. Kaplan, the President and Chief Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, encouraged leaders to ask advice and feedback from others, in order to correct blind spots. Co-founders are great sources for advice because they know the business thoroughly, which helps them offer valuable feedback. Thus, don’t be a leader in a bubble. Find a co-founder and get the advice!

And how comes IdeasVoice in these assertions

Spend time highlighting your expertise and specify the ideal cofounder you are searching for your project

Because IdeasVoice believes in the importance of having a founding team with complementary skills and know-how, we first incite our members to fill in theirs “hard” and “soft” skills as well as their experience and achievements on their profile page. Secondly, for those who are looking for cofounders, they have to say in their needs which skills they are looking for and which function or role will be assigned to the future cofounder in the project. Having this level of information is very useful to save time in the search. It’s also important for the algorithm to recommend complementary matches.

Get emotional support

IdeasVoice is not only an entrepreneur network but is a collaborative place. IdeasVoice connects people sharing the same interest on a project. Thanks to all the possible interactions on a project, IdeasVoice helps its members learn and grow together, builds teams of passionate cofounders with aligned visions, and encourages respect and commitment to support entrepreneurial projects.

Diversity helps to mitigate your risks

IdeasVoice promotes diversity and welcomes all talented entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs who want to make things happen. Diversity is key for having added-value teamwork thanks to various angles of experiences and know-hows from the cofounders as well as a broader vision of the project. With IdeasVoice, you can access various kinds of profiles and leverage diversity to succeed in the venture.

Ideally, you should focus on doing only what you are best at. That’s why you need cofounders.

Cofounders offer not only technical support but also emotional support that may be lacking in a solo environment.

With more people involved in the discussion, the decision-making for the start-up is usually less risky because having more opinions ensures that good ideas aren’t overlooked and that potentially bad ideas are checked before going further.

Let’s go! Find a Co-founder Now!

By Xinlan Yu of IdeasVoice US

Related Article:

Are Entrepreneurs “Touched with Fire”?

It’s Time to Burst Your Own Bubble and Ask for Advice

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