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MenuI think I made a mistake trying to be founder and co-founder of two companies at the same time.
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Go with the company you're most passionate about and you'll make a living or more.
I wouldn't do B just because you think there's some pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Your health and sanity isn't worth that trek, especially if you having some else you love.
Quite a predicament. I have actually experienced a similar situation. To fully answer your questions I would need to know more about each business, such as the revenue each entity is generating, and what your role is in each.
If you're profitable, and can afford to hire a replacement for yourself, and act as a consultant and/or split your time for company A, you may be able to spend more time with B. The other trouble you are describing is non alignment of partners. This is potentially a bigger problem in the long run, especially once you generate some success. If fundamentally you disagree with both, and can't align with one to vote your position, then you should probably leave B, no matter what. The stress level will only increase as time goes on, especially once real money is involved.
I have been fortunate enough to have alignment with my two partners. Not to say there aren't any grey hairs from the epic battles, or that no one got hurt in the late night bun fights.
Hey, you've phrased the question in such a way that suggests that you already know the answer. You're just looking for some confirmation.
The right answer is to withdraw from company B gracefully.
The good news is that you have a clear vision about your commitment to company A and that company B is doing well so withdrawing may have minimal negative impact.
It may be a good time to plot through how to manage that graceful exit. You may even find that it generates goodwill with your co-founders in Company B.
What you're experiencing is pretty typical. The process of focus involves a fair amount of defocusing -- we just don't talk about it much.
I've been through the growing pains of three startups, in each case gradually withdrawing from one to pick up the next. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Cheers!
Presume you have equity in B, but did you invest capital? If you don't see eye to eye the other partners will be just as happy to have you take a back seat role. Keep your equity or lessen it and take a cut of deals you bring to the table but let them run the day to day.
Sometimes you have to walk away from one and focus on the other to really appreciate and recharge the thought process for Company B.
Real life scenario is Twitter and Square....Jack Dorsey was part of the Twitter Team and then left to focus on Square and start really building it while Twitter seem to lose momentum only for Jack to return and now is CEO of both companies spending 50% of his time each day on each company.
Twitter just announced IPO and I am sure Square will not be far behind in the next 12-24 mos.
You have provided a lot more information about company B than you have for A. All I know at this point is that you are passionate about A, it's your baby and you have no partners to deal with.
I would like to dig deeper into the source of your stress in company B since it would appear to be doing better than A ( Just a guess because you have not spoken to the profitability or success of A)
Working in a partnership means that your ideas and suggestions will be challenged and your vision may not always be supported. It requires you to develop the skills of influence and humility; Influence to get the cooperation of others for your vision and humility to follow where others have the better idea. If you are all strong visionaries, it's going to be a hard balance to achieve, but one that is well worth it especially where your business is a winner.
Again, I have more questions for you than answers at this point l, especially since I don't have the full picture; but if my guesses are right, there might be more to be accomplished with A AND B than you might think my friend.
Related Questions
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Business partner I want to bring on will invest more money than me, but will be less involved in operations, how do I split the company?
Cash money should be treated separately than sweat equity. There are practical reasons for this namely that sweat equity should always be granted in conjunction with a vesting agreement (standard in tech is 4 year but in other sectors, 3 is often the standard) but that cash money should not be subjected to vesting. Typically, if you're at the idea stage, the valuation of the actual cash going in (again for software) is anywhere between $300,000 and $1m (pre-money). If you're operating in any other type of industry, valuations would be much lower at the earliest stage. The best way to calculate sweat equity (in my experience) is to use this calculator as a guide: http://foundrs.com/. If you message me privately (via Clarity) with some more info on what the business is, I can tell you whether I would be helpful to you in a call.TW
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How was SnapChat able to grow so quickly?
I'm answering your question assuming that you hope to be able to replicate it's own success in your own mobile app. There are a couple of factors responsible for it's growth that are instructive to anyone building a mobile app. "Leveraging the intimacy and privacy of the mobile phone." We now have an *intimate* relationship with our phone like no other device in the history of technology. Every internet company that started before around 2010 has built their core interactions around "the old web" one which was accessed primarily via a browser on a computer. Companies that start with a clean slate, should be building their interactions around how to do whatever the app is supposed to do while leveraging what is unique to people's relationship to their mobile devices. Photo-sharing has become a core part of the way we communicate now. Snapchat built something that provided an experience that leveraged the feeling of privacy and intimacy that is unique to mobile. "Provided an escape from the "maturity" of other online services." Too many parents, aunts, uncles and other "old people" have encroached into the social networks of teens and young people. As a result, they've had a desire to find places to express themselves in places inaccessible by older generations. An important distinction is that it's not just parents and relatives that young people are trying to avoid, but also employers & colleges who are increasingly using "mature" social networks to review applicants. "Leveraged PR even bad PR" The fact that the app got so much press about it being used to sext was perfect PR for the company, as it essentially reinforced the brand experience that it has today. Essentially, "if it's safe enough to send a sext, it's safe for any kind of communication I want to have." And although the safety and security of Snapchat is actually not as advertised, it still enjoys the reputation of having less impact than any primarily web-based service. Building a successful mobile application is one of the hardest challenges to face designers, programmers and entrepreneurs in the history of writing software. Happy to talk to you if you're considering building a mobile app, about what I've learned about the "table stakes" for success.TW
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How do you make money to survive while you are building a business? What are some quick ways to make money with less time commitment?
I love this question. If you have to work on the side while building your business, I recommend doing something you absolutely hate. That keeps you hungry to succeed on your own. You'll also typically save your energy for the evenings and weekends where you'll want it for your business. Don't expect to make much money at your "other job" but you can work it to pay the bills while you build your business. This approach also forces you to build incrementally, and it keeps you frugal. This is not necessarily ideal. Having a bunch of money set aside sounds nice and luxurious, but not having the resources puts you in a position where you have to figure it out to survive. I love that. I started my business eight years ago on $150 and today we do a million a year. Don't wait until you have the resources to start safely. Dive in however you can. And avoid shortcuts. Don't waste your time scheming to make bigger money on the side. Do something honest to live on and create a business that drives value.CM
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If I have 51 percent and my partner has 49 percent of our company, what real decision making authority would I have?
On paper you have the advantage but after several startups control resides in he who knows how to execute the vision of the company.HJ
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I have this social media idea,but no coding skills. How do I get someone to do the coding (cant afford to pay them) and not give away half of my idea?
Dilip was very kind in his response. My answer might be a bit on the "tough love" side. But that's for you to decide. My intention, just for the record, is to help you (and those like you) on your path to success. And that starts with having a viable philosophy about entrepreneurial-ism and business. And I'm going to answer this because I get asked some form / version of this question very frequently from newcomers to entrepreneurial-ism. The scenario goes something like this: "I have a great idea. It's amazing, I love it, and I just KNOW it's gonna make me a ton of money. But I have no money right now so I can't afford to (fill in the blank with things like "to build it / create it / market it / etc" or "to hire the required staff needed to work in my business to sell it / develop it / etc"). And I don't want to tell anyone about my great idea because I'm worried someone will steal it and make MY million / billion dollars. But I can't afford to legally protect it either... So how do I launch without the skills to personally create the product AND no money to hire anyone else to do that either??" The answer is ... You don't. Look - let's be honest. All you have is an idea. Big deal. Really. I'm not saying it's not a good idea. I'm not saying that if properly executed it couldn't make you a million / billion dollars... But an idea is NOT a business. Nor is it an asset. Until you do some (very important) initial work - like creating a business model, doing customer development, creating a MVP, etc - all you really have is a dream. Right now your choices are: 1. Find someone with the skills or the money to develop your idea and sell them on WHY they should invest in you. And yes, this will mean giving up either a portion of the "ownership" or of future income or equity. And the more risk they have to take - the more equity they will want (and quite frankly be entitled to). 2. Learn how to code and build it yourself. MANY entrepreneurs without financial resources are still resourceful. They develop the skills needed to create what they don't have the money to pay someone else to do. 3. Get some cash so you can pay someone to do the coding. You'll probably have to have some knowledge of coding to direct the architecture of your idea. So you will likely still have to become knowledgeable even if its not you personally doing the coding. (This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of options... And I'm sure some of the other experts here on Clarity have others to add - and I hope they do) To wrap up - Here's my final tip to you that I hope you "get"... It's FAR more valuable to have an idea that a very specific hungry crowd is clamoring for right now - One that THEY would love and pay you for right now - Maybe even one they'd pre-order because they just have to have it - Versus YOU being in love with your own idea. [Notice I didn't say "an idea that some as-of-yet-undetermined market would probably love"] I wish you the best of luck moving forward.DB
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