Co-founder compatibility worksheet

Before Nina and I started Parlai, we created a questionnaire that helped us understand if we were on the same page regarding our goals and ways of working, but most importantly, it showed us the areas where we differed.

Knowing your discrepancies and making agreements beforehand helped us avoid plenty of headaches.

Here are the questions.

Ambition and definition of success

  1. What does success look like to you?
  2. What do you want the company to look like in five years?
  3. How fast do you want the company to grow?
  4. How important is money to you, from 0 to 10?
  5. How famous or anonymous would you like to be?
  6. What kind of exit would you ultimately be comfortable with?

Commitment and personal trade-offs

  1. How much of a priority is this project in your life?
  2. How much time can you commit each week?
  3. How much money can you invest each month?
  4. Could you work on it full-time now? If not, when?
  5. How willing are you to sacrifice time with friends, family, or other personal priorities?
  6. What boundaries would you want to maintain between the company and your personal life?
  7. How comfortable are you using social media to promote the company?

Roles, strengths, and responsibilities

  1. What skills and experience would you bring to the company?
  2. What are some of your weaknesses?
  3. What would your ideal role in the company be?
  4. What responsibilities would you expect me to take on?

Communication and availability

  1. How often should we communicate?
  2. Which communication methods should we use?
  3. What response times would you expect from me?
  4. When should you not be disturbed under any circumstances?
  5. How should we communicate when something is urgent?

Product and execution

  1. What would your dream product look like?
  2. Which product features or areas are you most excited about?
  3. What project-management tools would you prefer to use, and why?
  4. What project-management frameworks do you prefer?
  5. How should we prioritize spending during the early stages of the company?

Feedback, conflict, and emotional dynamics

  1. How do you prefer to give and receive feedback?
  2. How important are recognition and positive feedback to you?
  3. How comfortable are you with conflict, from 0 to 10?
  4. How do you normally handle disagreements?
  5. How do you deal with frustration?
  6. What mistakes have you learned from when working with other people?
  7. What would be a red flag for you when working with me?

Decision-making and authority

  1. How should we make important decisions?
  2. What should happen when we cannot agree?
  3. Which decisions should require agreement from both founders?
  4. Which decisions should each founder be able to make independently?

Values, ethics, and risk

  1. What ethical principles guide you?
  2. How comfortable are you operating in legal or regulatory gray areas?
  3. How important should social and environmental impact be to the company?

Funding and financial strategy

  1. Which sources of financing would you consider: for example, bootstrapping, grants, investors, loans, or money from friends and family?
  2. How much control would you be willing to give up in exchange for investment?
  3. How should we balance growth, profitability, and founder salaries?

Equity, contracts, and founder agreements

  1. How should we divide equity?
  2. What vesting period and cliff would you consider fair?
  3. Should we have a formal founders’ agreement?
  4. What should happen to a founder’s equity if they leave?
  5. How should intellectual property created by either founder be handled?

Team growth and company culture

  1. How would you feel about bringing more people onto the team?
  2. At what point do you think hiring would become necessary?
  3. What kind of company culture would you like to build?

Founder relationship and personal boundaries

  1. Do you think co-founders should also be friends?
  2. What personal and professional boundaries should we establish?

Quitting, failure, and founder departure

  1. How bad would things need to become before you considered quitting?
  2. How much notice should a founder give before leaving?
  3. What responsibilities should a departing founder have during the transition?
  4. What should happen if one founder is no longer contributing enough?
  5. Under what circumstances should the company be closed, sold, or radically changed?