Looking for a co-founder? Try YC's new co-founder matching platform: www.ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching

He looked through my soul

Just in the process of firing my co-founder who only works 2 days a week, 9 to 5 and then goes off on holidays on weekends. In my experience. having a co-founder narrative is over-rated and there merely to provide cushioning to the effing investors, unless the co-founder operates at the same bandwidth as you.

Finding the right co-founder is very difficult. You need someone trustworthy, passionate as you are about the project, have a compatible character and conflict resolution (like a marriage), hardworker and willing to learn new skills and aligned in vision on the major issues. In fact I would argue you’re more likely to fill the skill gap either by learning by yourself or hiring/contract for specific things if you have a well laid out plan.

For those without easy access to a business partner, I would ignore the "you need a co-founder" narrative and just build the product yourself. If you can gain traction, passionate team members will most likely find you.

Very informative class on finding a co-founder! Hope to see more videos from Y Combinator and Harj. All the best for everyone starting out their startups and finding their cofounders!

Thanks Harj & YC. a very thorough talk. Enjoyed it

Great suggestion on when to look for co-founder is not at the time you need to find one, do some projects with them to get a taste of what kind of people you like or your energy aligned with them to work together.

Really Nice and informative Harj. Thank you for your time!

Masterclass! Great content, great find!

Thank you Harj. This is very helpful!

This information is great. Thank you for sharing your insights.

coming here after having to fire my cto/ co-founder (and friend) and having the company buying back the equity. it was the suckiest decision but also the right one, as 4, 5, 6 follow ups didn't result in.. well, results. send good vibes for me to learn best practices and find my next person! 🙏

I had 2 co-founders that didn't do anything at all, and until i decided there is no point to expect anything anymore from them and to go on by myself it took a while. So i think it is really important that the people you partner up with are reliable.

Monumentally useful, thankyou!

Learnt a lot, great content 👍🏻👍🏻

Excellent content.

Very informative

This one is thought provoking. I need to comb through all the people I have respected over the years and see what happens. I’ve tried to get started with just a team of volunteers…and let’s just say that I haven’t gotten very far. But I have learnt a lot!

Co-founder conflict is the biggest reason for startup failure. It's better to go solo than to wait for a co-founder.

We have a small team and the energy dynamic between myself and the other 3 is way off. I feel like they’re waiting for someone to help give them direction while I’m out pounding the pavement daily. The business is tough but getting them in gear is excruciating 😖

Great advice

Thanks, it essential points to take into consideration

This is super insightful. Thanks for sharing

Thank You

thank you!!!!!!!

I've heard more than one YC founder talk about splitting equity equally. It's fraught with all kinds of perils. Maybe you want If...Then clauses to handle situations that may come up. Where a co-founder isn't able to meet the commitments you thought they would meet.

HAHAHA Just applied solo two hours ago. Whoops. At least I'm technical and have confidence in my idea. Still though not liking my odds if they rejected dropbox.

Thanks. I needed this badly.

I'm working on an app that let's you find a cofounder in your area, what do you think about it? would it be something you would use?

Excellent advice, especially on the reasoning behind the split (CEO vs another pos like CTO). Thinking this way, I can see where the CEO's opinion may carry more weight on business decisions and the CTO on more technical decisions. It may seem obvious to some, however, when you are in the early stages and excited, rational thought can be a challenge to come by.

Never ever ever think you need a co-founder cause someone is doing a ridiculous single dimension pattern matching to decide if they'll invest in your company or not. Rarely you get bad advise from YC and this is one of those rare cases. IMO, you have a chance to become successful without a co-founder but good luck making any progress with a bad co-founder.

ayyy I'm right here 😎 full stack software dev looking to start an AI startup

I really wanted to listen to your full video, I like the content but it's not the best audio experience.

Thank you for this video! I did just start a company by myself, and I do move things forward, I get some parts sub-contracted, I have friends who can advise me on technical aspects when needed, and with that soft-network I have enough to move things forward. My problem that I want a partner for is the Really complex technical problems, for which I would need a technical super-star. The problem I have with finding someone complementary, is that I haven't worked in intense situations carrying complimentary skills, and who also are extremely stress tolerant. How does one solve this problem of knowing someone very well, but still have them having complementary skills and experiences?

as usually, great content. Thank you!

what if after testing the idea co-founders wants to go separate ways then who gets to use the idea further???

Thanks for sharing structured info about finding co-founder. I’d just be careful with sharing equity in 50/50 model. In startups, things will change fast and founder maybe in trouble if they legally document ownership as 50/50 and co-founder will deviate from original plan for any reason. I personally have been in such situation, luckily we did not legally documented anything and my co-founder who has had a day job decided to pursue corporate career. I recommend to ready a book “Slicing Pie” by Mike Moyer. Good luck in your journey!

Great content¡

Too bad the sounds sucks. Could you improve your sound recording maybe with an external mic in the future ? Thank you.

Need someone for business side and someone for engineering

Im almost 4 years into my company. I wish i had a cofounder in the beginning...I would have saved so much cash

Recent video for COVID times. Thank you!

I was looking this for a long time ago. Thanks for the great content

Super

The breadth-first search algo to find cofounders at work lol

ycombinator benim hayat

Dont forget to use nice vesting schedule or some earn out to keep you safe from predators/ sleazy people.

i need to ask a question, what if my cofounder is very rich but the idea is mine and i have been working on the company a little longer, how do we perform equity?

I have tried several startups ideas with different teams. Definitively you want someone that complement not just your skills, but your work style. I would not consider someone that cannot commit at least 30 hours per week, just from experience hehe.

The audio quality is terrible.

co-finder

Great advice. I only wish I had heard this 20 years ago! A good book for folks getting into the start-up world is the "The Founder's Dilemma" by Wasserman. It is eerily accurate.

I'm just going to go down to the honky-tonk bar and have people draw the short straw.

Read the transcript, the audio here needs fixing

very important content but almost unlistenable. the sound recording quality is very bad. please try to make sure you are recording this very important content with good enough microphone.

What a marvelous video and I really adored the ideas shared, but the audio was just horrific. I got my ears cleaned in hopes of processing the soundwaves slightly better but to no avail. I tried turning up the volume on my headset, but the audio was still incomprehensible on some occasions. I bought a new set of speakers just to see if I could savour the juicy words leaving his lips, but still to no avail. I am disheartened that the talent, and wisdom, of such a wise young man, has been dwindled down into almost nothingness; not due to his failure but rather due to the failure in the technology used. If only this man had used the included headset in his phone's box, or maybe even used his phone as a microphone, would this failure have been avoided. I leave this video with my head low and my spirit crushed. Till we meet again, young YC Partner Harj Taggar. Till we meet again.

Anyone here looking for a cofounder?

Great video, but awful sound :(

You know, it is not that easy to fond a co-founder. It painfully hard to see or even convince your best Friends, brothers or whatever to join you in a project. Most prefer to work for big companies. It bleeds my heart to constantly be politely rejected by closed people. In this case, my experience is that you better start alone, learning technical skills yourself if required. May be someone will join you in the way.

Start yourself, go ahead and when you see someone who is passionate about like you then cooperate!

Pattern matching to success sounds very much like a cargo cult.

Hello YC, I just submitted my application, a bit late but I'd appreciate if I could send you a link via YT for early review Thanks

Cofounder = unagreeable lawsuit city. I get the same answers from my employees at a lower cost and pass them a bonus

Sadly the sound quality is very bad, microphone sounds like cheap chinese products, please get a better 🎤 next time, it sad your valuable advice is not clear

My father’s invention could save 12,435,974 and more ! Just need investors for funding 🙏

Best advise : DON'T

Please. Stop doing that. promoting what can brings just more chaos.

The shot is too close to his face lol. Unfomfortable. and the sound quality is a bit bad. Pay for a filmographer its worth it!

For anyone who doesn't have technical background but aims to transition to a career into tech or found your own startup some day, you can consider attend this free webinar: www.techfornontechies.co/juneclass