Often when the “Technical Co-Founder” label is applied it is done so in contrast to the responsibilities of the other founding members. The Technical member Builds. The other members Sell. In fact, the only two roles in the early days of a startup are Sellers and Builders. Anything not directly related to these are a waste of your time.
Wasting time is the biggest mistake you can make as a founder. Time matters most to the Technical Co-Founder as everyone ends up waiting for us to complete our work. So it’s your time management skills and productivity that mark you as a great Technical Co-Founder.
Technical Co-Founder
Speed with purpose
The best is the enemy of the good
No quit
Speed with Purpose
I openly steal the “Speed with purpose” line from a past life at KPMG Consulting. Back then it was an aspirational motto that really didn’t reflect how the company operated.
Never the less, it sticks in my brain as a reminder to try to go faster, and a reminder to keep an eye on the goal.
A Technical Co-Founder is a person that is forced to live life with speed and purpose. Agility in pursuit of product market fit. Go Fast!
Best is the Enemy
Great architectures, clean code, and fancy designs all come with a time cost. And time is the enemy in the early stages of a startup. A Tech Co-Founder sees that there is time to fix it after you gain traction and you can afford to hire a bigger team.
Until then the only thing that matters is how long it takes to demo that new feature to get your customer feedback.
Just Don’t Quit
The number one reason startups fail is founder breakup. Not everyone has the same fortitude and eventually a breaking point is reached where a founder is unable to continue.
It’s important to know where the breaking point is and to manage the business in a way that avoids that cliff.
Be it cash runway or emotional limits, the best founders find a way to persevere in adversity. They always survive to fight another day.
I’m looking for great co-founders of all sorts to collect stories and insights from the front lines. I’d love to hear about your team and challenges and relate any knowledge I can to your situation. Hit the link below and setup a time to chat.