Assume the Work

Startups and projects fail because they run out of funds. But if you look closer, the cause for running out of cash is because they didn’t listen to their customers. Going even deeper, they failed to make stuff people actually wanted. And beneath that, the team members (or co-founders) were busy with internal problems rather than customer happiness.

Successful startups differ because they have a strong leader who doesn’t get caught up in internal politics. Instead, that person continually refocuses the team on making customers happy. When your customers are satisfied, cash starts flowing, and even the most dramatic internal conflicts fade away without blowing up the company.

Perhaps that’s why many people say finding a co-founder is harder than getting married. Co-founding a company with someone is incredibly challenging. It’s also probably why, throughout my life (even in school teams), I always assumed I’d do all the work (of making customers happy) myself. Sometimes someone else would contribute, and I’d be pleasantly surprised. But generally, assuming I’d handle everything helped (I think!?) make my teams successful. Or maybe I just got extremly lucky (!!).

If your attitude is, “You’re my co-founder, so I expect you to complete your tasks, and if you don’t, we fail,” you’ll likely fail. Instead, assume you’ll need to handle everything yourself. That way, you can’t fail. If a co-founder proves irrelevant, they’ll naturally fall by the wayside. Eventually, it’ll be clear that the startup isn’t a 50-50 effort, and if they resist, you can always reincorporate without them. At that point, they’ll have no leverage—they made themselves irrelevant.

The point isn’t to avoid co-founders altogether. It’s good to have co-founders. Just don’t let them limit your own success. You’re better off assuming you’ll carry the entire load. Then, occasionally, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when someone genuinely useful steps up. People just need time to find their stride.