Startup tales highlighting contentious co-founder relationships are a dime a dozen. After more than a decade building Wyzant with my co-founder, Mike, we are still going strong, working closely together pretty much every day. I get asked a lot how we still get along so well after all these years. It’s a good question, particularly given that we lived together and bootstrapped the business for more than five years. Like any startup, it’s been a rollercoaster, but our partnership has never wavered. Upon reflection, I’ve realized that although we didn’t take any formal cofounder vows (and actually never even had a written agreement between us), there are a few key tenets that have led to this durability.
Trust
Trust is built through honesty over time. For us, there has never been anything but brutal honesty. That’s the standard. It’s not good enough to simply avoid lies and deception. You have to call each other out as well as admit your own errors. To do this, you must be open and forgiving about mistakes because they’re going to happen. And you have to give credit when deserved.
The trust we’ve built manifests itself in many constructive ways. For instance, we communicate bluntly and directly, cutting right to the chase to avoid confusion or wasted time. And it doesn’t matter who is right or who is wrong or who gets the credit; we never say, “I told you so” or “that was my idea.”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not always a lovefest. If anything, the trust we have gives us latitude to say things that may otherwise be considered insensitive or offensive. We get mad, but then we get over it very quickly because we know it’s not personal. However, one thing we’ve learned is that the more contentious conversions are best had behind closed doors and not in front of co-workers who may not understand our dynamic.
Commitment
When you start a company with someone, you are entering into a relationship that’s statistically more likely to fail than the average marriage. It’s a journey full of obstacles and challenges — tight finances, massive uncertainty, hiring and firing people, legal matters, the list goes on. This is especially true if you bootstrap your business, which Mike and I did for eight years. To have any chance, both founders have to be fanatically committed to not just the company but also to one another.
There have been many times when it would have been easier to walk away than to battle against the odds. But in these moments, we always knew deep down that there was unfinished business, and we certainly weren’t going to leave each other to fight alone.
Grabbing Beers
Every few weeks either Mike or I will say, “Hey man, let’s grab beers sometime soon.” We use this time to check in on one another, vent, share feedback and talk about our families. Regardless of what is discussed, we leave these sessions feeling more aligned, recharged and usually with some great business ideas. (Note that drinking beers isn’t necessary, although it doesn’t hurt to loosen things up. Any relaxing activity outside of the office can serve this same purpose.)
Most importantly, grabbing beers helps us relax and have a few laughs about the craziness of it all. In this way, it is like a perspective calibration. Startups have a tendency to feel like life or death sometimes, and taking a big step back over a beer is a crucial way for us to help each other keep our sense of humor and be thankful. We try to give ourselves a pat on the back for what we’ve accomplished so far and then get fired up about the massive opportunity that’s still out there.
Understand Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Mike is incredibly technical and analytical. I am much more inclined to think strategically and spend time being outward-facing. As a result, I’m the CEO, and Mike is in charge of engineering and performance marketing. It has never been a question, because we are aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
I have heard so many stories of founders who are constantly at odds over decisions that need to be made. The same is true for non-founder executives. This is because either the lines of ownership are blurry or people have too much overlap in their skillsets or areas of interest.
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As a first-time CEO, I know I have a lot to learn. But one thing Mike and I have definitely done right is to create a partnership that’s highly effective and enduring. Now that we have a full executive team with deep experience from places like Grubhub and Groupon, the dynamic has evolved but the tenets haven’t changed. And these same principles have translated to strong relationships across the executive team.
Authored by Drew Geant, CEO & Co-founder, Wyzant
