TGR reflections: Co-founder struggles
Originally published on LinkedIn
It’s okay to have struggles with your co-founder. It’s also okay to get advice about it.
When we say what happens in The Green Room stays there, we mean it. This means that we sometimes find ourselves moving beyond the pitch into other areas of the business where founders are facing challenges. One of the most common issues we hear about among early-stage founders is a discordant or hostile co-founder relationship. In a lot of cases, founders are hesitant to bring this up directly; co-founders are like family and it can be hard to talk negatively about someone you’re so invested (literally) in and with and founders sometimes feel guilty about airing their ‘dirty laundry.’ In The Green Room though, our advisors unanimously agree that discovering you don’t see eye to eye with your co-founder doesn’t mean you’ve made a mistake, and talking about it is the only way to move past the status quo. Inevitably, talking things through with a non-biased advisor who’s seen all sorts of fractured and mended relationships can provide a series of possible solutions and, more importantly, mental relief.
I hope it helps to know that if you’re facing a challenging co-founder relationship, you’re not alone. Friction among co-founders is common, inevitable at some point or another, and in most cases, navigable. But there are lots of cases when the healthiest thing to do is to realize as early as possible that investing additional time together won’t do much other than cost more money and stress. This doesn’t necessarily mean giving up your business or your role in it. And it doesn’t mean one or both of you have to throw the towel in. We’ve seen all sorts of creative solutions for this problem, and a good investor will advise based on the specifics of your circumstances. The important thing is to not to ignore it and hope it resolves itself.
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