Almost every blog I read has linked to Marc Andreessen's Why Not To Do A Startup post. After reading it twice and thinking about it for most of the day I've decided that it's the best I've ever read on the subject of startups.
One of the things that I feel is missing from the post, however, is this rarely discussed fact:
Founders fight . . . a lot.
I would be shocked to find an exception to this rule. Starting a company takes a certain amount of ego: you are, in effect, saying, "I can do something better than anyone else". That's the reason that you're going to market, right? When you have multiple founders, you're essentially creating an egotistical powder keg by putting a couple (or several) of those egos into a confined space.
This is one of the reasons that having a partner you trust is so critical. You need to be able to fight and trust that no matter what happens, things will be okay. If that's not the case and a severe fight with hurt feelings and bruised egos has the potential to shut you down, then you'll avoid fighting. If you don't fight, it's probably an indication that not everything is getting said. This will cause your product to suffer, which means your company will suffer.
So go ahead and throw down, just make sure that it's with someone you trust and respect.
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