Co-founder Conflict Resolution
Hands down, the most exciting part of my work is helping startup co-founders work better together by navigating difficult conversations, resolving conflict, and facilitating communication to cultivate the co-foundership.
In my work with tech startup founders, I have come across some trends that echo in the co-founder relationship and can have devastating effects, not only on the relationship but also on the business as a whole.
For better or worse, it can be reassuring to have your co-founder by your side, however that relationship can also become the source of your sleepless nights, nagging headaches, and compounding resentment.
Common trends:
Being iced out by your co-founder
Struggling to align on the company vision
Things starting to feel like personal jabs
Bickering about issues, big and small
Repeated avoidance of certain topics
Having the same old arguments on repeat
Getting stuck in rigid conversations with predictable tipping points
Not seeing eye to eye
As a co-founder, you know all too well that you have a full plate. You’re expected to manage employees, take on new hires, deal with investors, navigate PR, scale your company, write the cheques, handle fundraising, and the list goes on.
Given the high pressure that comes with the territory, co-founder friction will all too often lodge itself into various aspects of the business, possibly even to its demise.
It’s not just about playing nice with your co-founder and meeting the bottom line. Rather, the goal is to:
Work collaboratively
Acquire the skills to have difficult conversations
Learn when and how to agree to disagree
Keep the lines of communication open
Engage in smoother and more strategic decision making
Have each other’s backs
Open communication is the name of the game. It’s all about buckling up and talking things through to cultivate the co-foundership so you can achieve more optimal performance, get bigger outcomes, and hit more home runs together as a team.
