How To Find A Co-Founder | Startup School

TL;DR

Building a startup is extremely hard; a cofounder improves work output, quality, and emotional resilience, and virtually all top startups had cofounding teams (Facebook, Apple). In 90% of cases, a founder should prioritize finding a cofounder before starting; the exception is if you have a specific idea, domain expertise, and can build the product yourself as an engineer.

Key insights

• A cofounder provides more working hours and higher work quality through complementary skills and challenging ideas.
• Startups are an emotional rollercoaster; a cofounder who is equally all-in provides crucial emotional support that hired employees cannot replicate.
• Pattern matching: major successes like Facebook and Apple were cofounded (Zuckerberg/Moskovitz, Jobs/Wozniak); later one founder often becomes the public face.