"Finding a business partner is akin to finding a wife: dating, checking relationships, and only then a wedding."
Jov Schwartz, founder of Uberflip
In the startup industry, as in life, you can either lock yourself in and slowly maneuver through the business space, or acquire partners. In the second case, the speed of resource mobilization that you need to get into the right door increases significantly. But if it was easy to find the right people, I would hardly have taken up this article.
I had to part with people who did not meet my expectations. And divorce, as you know, is a painful situation for both. The breakups weren't the best. And still, I built every subsequent business on a partnership basis. I adhere to the same principles while working on the RevolverLab project.
I can't say that I painted myself a portrait of the "ideal partner". It's not even as presumptuous as it is utopian. But I have already made certain conclusions for myself. I hope my experience will be useful to you as well.
Partners are the addition of competencies and the exchange of experience. This is the main asset and driving force of any project. There is an opinion that looking for "business friends" among acquaintances is not the best idea. I agree, if it is the fact of acquaintance that prevails over competence. But while there are brilliant professionals in the notebook, I think this option is even preferable.
I tend to think that there are no ideal leaders in nature. It is difficult to pay attention to details at the same time, be focused on results, remember the interests of your team and have a business streak. Therefore, success can only be achieved in a team. Moreover, partners should be leaders in their field. Ideally, if your competencies and knowledge will vary.
I, for example, perfectly understand what I'm not good at, so I'm always looking for a person who would be able to compensate for these moments. It's much better if you find someone who thinks differently, but has the same drive, than a person whose set of knowledge matches yours.
An ordinary startup is a road to success with limited resources. There are a lot of restrictions. You may not have enough time, money, and people who can help you achieve your goals. I don't think this is a startup problem. Rather, its main component.
And if, under these restrictions, your partner is terribly slow, estimates himself to be worth a fortune, needs a large army of people capable of completing the tasks, it is better to say goodbye to him right away. Such people in the world of business and startups, in particular, are called "company killers".
And also, I will never take a person who is unpleasant to me into a startup. He can be a brilliant specialist, a talented speaker, an ideal manager in every sense. But if I'm not comfortable even talking to him or being in the same room, then what kind of partnership can we talk about?
Again, I repeat that this is only my experience. It may be easier for you to solve problems slowly than to deal with them at the speed of sound. I can assume that in order to achieve your goals, you are ready to work with a person from whom the eye twitches all day afterward. It's damn hard for me to build a startup in this mode. I'm used to speed and dynamism. And I can't work with a person who simply doesn't suit my character. And I don't want to.
When I conduct negotiations with a future partner, I always focus on the fact that responsibility and 220% return will be required from him — it will not be possible to shift my part of the work to "that girl" or "that guy". It is better to dot all the "I", and explain that the work is largely thankless, that it will need to be spent 24 hours a day, that there may not be a vacation for another year or two. My point is that you should not associate yourself with a person who is not ready to work in a team, endure inconveniences and overcome any difficulties.
Of course, everything can be quite rosy in your startup, and the partner will not have to work up a sweat. But you have to understand what you can expect from a person. After all, you don't want your project to be driven like a horse, do you?
If your startup is successful, most likely, it is the merit of your woman. And vice versa: if there is a woman next to you who does not believe in your project, you can assume that it has already failed.
We men are conquerors and winners. We are strong, smart and sweep away all the problems on the way. It just so happened. But imagine that this strong conqueror is always walking through the lands of enemies and conquering them. Sooner or later he'll run out of steam.
And now imagine that there is nowhere to rest. In non-stop mode, you fight, overcome problems, capture opponents, well, how long will you be enough?
Of course, I exaggerate, but, in my opinion, this example perfectly characterizes a startup, and the situation can be compared with the life of its creators. Modern man wants everything at once. And women are no exception. Unfortunately, there are few among them who really believe in their man's project. Moreover, when creating a startup, you can easily go into negative territory at first, before there is any profit and the first glimpses of success.
Maybe it will seem illogical to someone, but I am sure that a man's main partner in any endeavor is his woman, who believes in him and supports him in every possible way. Without this, it is very difficult to do anything at all. It's not impossible, of course (well, they're strong!), but it's difficult.
And finally, if you are a businessman, the sooner you take a critical look at yourself and understand what you and your startup are missing, the sooner you will meet the right person with whom you can work productively.
P.S. If you have any questions, write to me by e-mail: [email protected] and in Twitter: VlaRevolver.
