Alex Blumberg is a Podcasting genius. He is best known for his work on This American Life and Planet Money. When he decided to leave Plant Money and start Gimlet Media, it was a huge risk that he, not surprisingly, underestimated.
Alex’s journey into starting his own business is documented in the first show from Gimlet Media, simply called Startup. In Startup, Alex gives you a raw, as it happens, view of what it’s like to start your own company. It’s chalked full of candid commentary, confessions, excitement, despair and resolve.
Early in the series (Episode 3 to be exact), Alex realizes that he needs a partner. Thus the journey begins to find the right person to make Gimlet Media a reality.
Here’s the Dilemma
You have a great idea and the vision to make it happen. The problem is you don’t know what you don’t know about business, technology, marketing or whatever it may take to start a business. Everyone has to answer this simple question: when do you go it alone or form a team.
Case in Point
Gimlet Media is a great example of this dilemma. When Alex ventured off on his own, it was just him and an idea. That idea, to build a podcasting network based on narrative story telling, had been done before yet Alex had the drive and determination to do it a different way. All he needed was the capital and some luck to make it happen.
Early in his journey, Podcast #1 to be exact, he pitches Billionaire Chris Secca an early investor in Twitter and Instagram. The pitch is awkward. Alex stumbles over his words and can’t really articulate what he is building and why he is going to be successful. It’s clear he needs work both on the pitch and his business model. Part of the reason he needs help is that he’s really not a spreadsheet kinda guy and anyone who has built a business knows, spreadsheets drive the most important aspect of any business — the numbers.
Take-a-way: Know your limitations and find someone to help fill in your gaps
A Little Help From Family & Friends
Starting your own business comes with a lot of stress. Not having experience with critical aspects of it will make you go mental. If you are the sole bear of that stress, you start to make increasingly poorer and poorer decisions simply because it gets harder and harder to juggle all the tasks and decisions that need to be made.
A clue that you are down the path to doom is when family, friends and your investors hint, nudge, push or yell at you to think about getting help. Asking for and seeking help should not be seen as weakness. Every single investor and founder in a startup will tell you that you need co-founders to help shoulder the incredible burden that a new business has. Thankfully, this is exactly Alex did.
Take-a-way: Seek out advice from those you trust even if it’s hard to hear
Finding a Co-Founder is Like Dating
There are no real rules for finding your idea co-founder. The closest I can come up with is that it’s kinda like dating — is this person interesting enough to keep talking too, do I feel comfortable with them and what excites me about them.
Of course, your co-founder(s) need to add something to the business but in some ways that’s secondary. Most likely, even a great potential but total asshole co-founder, will be more of a liability than an asset. It’s just human nature that someone that annoys you or that you don’t trust or does shady deals, is not really going to be a team player.
Thankfully sites like Founder Dating have sprung up to make the task a little easier but it’s still a lot of gut feeling, can I get along with this person. Here are a couple more things to consider about you future co-founder(s): * Complementary Skill Sets: Look for co-founder(s) that possess skills that you may not have.
Domain Expertise: It’s essential that someone on the team knows the market and technology the venture will need.
Contacts: It’s preferred that your potential co-founder(s) have connections that can help the venture.
Track Record: A proven track record of starting a company is preferred but not a show stopper. Startups are a unique experience that most people can’t understand.
Compatibility: The most important thing is that their is trust, respect and a mutual understanding of the roles each founder(s) will play. Even if someone is perfect in the above things, if you are not compatible, the stresses of the venture will compound and make it that much harder to succeed.
Take-a-way: Compatibility between each other is the most important trait for co-founder(s)
Everyone Needs Help
I’m not going to try and convince you that a co-founder(s) is a good idea. That’s been done and done and done before. What you have to realize is that the right co-founder(s) makes the probability of success that much greater. Just look at history. Apple had Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Microsoft had Bill Gates and Paul Allen and Google had Larry Page and Sergey Brin. There is strength in numbers.
An important point should be made on the proper way to approach co-founder(s). This is not the “I have a great idea, come help me make MY idea a reality.” Please, don’t be that guy. The sooner you realize that you need founders just as much as your great idea, the sooner you can go find the right kind of co-founder(s) and build the kind of business you want.
As for Alex, he found his spreadsheet kinda guy in Matthew Lieber. I highly recommend you check out StartUp and all the other shows on Gimlet Media. They are fantastic.
Take-a-way: Founders need help to make their idea a success
Ask Yourself This
What skills do I lack that a cofounder can help with?
When should I bring others in?
What is my ideal teammate or cofounder?
If I go it alone, what challenges will I run into?
How do the majority of my competitors run their business? Solo or with big team?
Dig Deeper
Startup Podcast about starting Gimlet Media.
Alex Blumberg starts Gimlet Media and realizes he needs a partner.
Forbes take on co-founders
Why you should not go solo
The co-found mythology
Next Up
The next dilemma is one that Alex may not have to deal with but plenty of other tech entrepreneurs do —make it or go buy it. For some companies, this is a no brainer but there does come a time where all companies need to sort out what value do they bring to customers and what can be safely outsourced. Stay turned for that.
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