Finding a (great) Co-Founder

Consultant to Founder #2

There is a lot of buzz about how to find the right co-founder. I’ll share my 2 cents, based on my story and the best cases I heard from friends trying different ways to crack this.

When to do it

As I embarked on my journey as a wannabe founder, I started working on several things simultaneously:

1. Generating ideas

2. Building a support system (for fundraising, hiring, psychological support)

3. Finding a co-founder

Speaking with several investors, I was told multiple times to execute these activities in parallel but to focus mostly on generating an idea. The thesis behind this is simple: once you generate a great, backable idea, you can attract some VC soft commitments, which gives you way more leverage when hunting for a co-founder (ideally, one who complements your skill set).

While this makes logical sense, it overlooks a critical, non-negotiable factor - founder psychology.

Now, this is personal, but as a founder, I felt the need to have someone by my side from day zero. In the early days, I was forced to go at it alone, generating ideas and looking for opportunities, and trust me, it was brutal. You already feel like an idiot when you’re exploring ideas - now imagine doing it alone.

With two (or more people):

• You have a better line of thinking

• You move twice as fast

• You compensate for each other’s ups and downs

So, if I were to share an unpopular opinion, it would be this: to start off go out there and actively hunt for the right person. It doesn’t mean you should avoid working on everything else, but this should be your top priority from day one in your journey toward building a venture.

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Who to Look For

The advice I was given: "Go with someone who has a complementary skill set.” Translated:

• If you’re a business guy → Find a tech guy

• If you’re a tech guy → Find a business guy or a commercially minded tech guy

I’m a business guy, and my co-founder is too. No drama :)

Here’s the story. I was looking for a complementary co-founder and started speaking with dozens of tech people. Big issue - these guys have an incredibly low risk appetite, especially in Europe, even more so in Italy.

It’s no surprise that several venture builders (more info below), exist to match business and tech founders because finding a complementary co-founder is just so tough. However, even these programs struggle to find tech people willing to take the leap. Some of their batches aren’t even fairly split between business and tech (or at least that’s what friends that joined past editions told me).

Through a mutual friend, I met my now co-founder, Edo. Edo is an industrial engineer who, despite learning some coding, quickly transitioned into VC - so he’s more of a business guy than a tech one.

Still, Edo clicked with me like no one else had in years.

When I started speaking with him, my mind began firing off ideas at 10x speed. It felt like our synapses were in sync. My dad once overheard us talking and said:

"You guys are speaking so fast between each other that it’s impossible to follow your train of thought."

And that’s because we surf the same brainwave frequency.

Even though we’re different in many ways, our underdog mentality and shared desire to break the world apart bonded us. It just felt right, so we went for it.

That doesn’t mean we jumped in blindly. We did our due diligence:

• We had tough conversations about roles, responsibilities, and personal goals.

• We built a co-founder match questionnaire based on online references to de-risk our partnership.

• We had our mentors and best friends interview us separately to assess whether we were truly a fit.

This might sound excessive, but co-founder breakups are really painful. Looking at my peers, 20% of them had a breakup within their first year, and if you check the statistics, it can build up to 45% of companies after four years (ref. Noam Wasserman study in Founder’s Dilemma).

One last tip - test the other person early. Give them a challenge, like “do this and let’s reconnect in 24 hours.” You’ll quickly get a sense of their work ethic and commitment.

Edo was insane—he was pulling all-nighters on top of his job to make it happen. He was a samurai, and I knew I needed someone like that beside me.

So my point here is, don’t limit yourself to trying out working with people who, at first glance, don’t tick all the boxes (i.e. only complimentary skillset). If you truly have what it takes, together, you can make it happen: investors, employees, and clients will feel it too, and it moves mountains!

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Where to Find Your Co-Founder

The best way to find a co-founder is through:

• Other great founders

• VCs who invest in early-stage talent

Why? Because talent attracts talent. If you can’t pull a great co-founder from your existing network, you need intros from people who are exposed to top talent.

For instance, early-stage VCs are always on the lookout for potential founders and often build relationships with them before they even have an idea.

If that route doesn’t work, here are three alternatives:

• YCombinator Co-Founder Matching Platform – Like Tinder for founders. It can be a great way to meet many potential co-founders, but it requires patience to sift through serious vs. non-serious people. This process can involve a lot of nerve-wracking swiping and meetings, but I know fellow founders who secured great co-founders this way. If you’re in Italy, keep in mind that very few people are on the platform (likely just a few dozen), so you may need to be open to searching for international co-founders.

• Venture Builders (Antler, Entrepreneur First, Vento, Founder’s Factory, Hexa, etc.) – These programs match founders, provide early-stage funding, and help develop ideas. Some, like Founder’s Factory and Hexa, take a more hands-on approach by offering product development, hiring support, and operational guidance. Great for first-time founders who need support, but you give up a sizable chunk of equity in return, or at least a relatively large portion given that you receive funding but at a really low valuation.

• LinkedIn – It sounds basic, but it’s the most scalable networking tool. Filter by skillset, past jobs, or universities and send connection requests with a note. Make them feel important and valued before pitching anything. People are more likely to engage when they feel their insights, expertise, or background are genuinely appreciated.

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Final Thoughts

If I had to start from scratch:

• I’d prioritize finding a co-founder first, or at least make it my core focus.

• I’d prioritize the brain match over focusing solely on skill set.

• I’d test for commitment and work ethic early.

• I’d prioritize leveraging great founders and VCs to get intros.

Hope this helps. Let’s build!

Edo