| json_metadata | "{"app":"Musing","appTags":["partner"],"appCategory":"partner","appTitle":"What are the challenges of partnering with other people when starting a business? What kind of people do you associate with?","appBody":"<p><br></p>\n<p><img src=\"https://okdiario.com/img/2015/11/negociaci%C3%B3n.jpg\" /></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>In the startup community it is said that if you are going to associate, look for the person to have an itch. Itch? Restlessness?</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Through about five times I pretended to be associated, they were all a colossal failure.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>My \"secret\" dream was to be able to make a society like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak or Bill Gates and Paul Allen, because it seemed to be the formula for success.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>The first time I tried to associate was shortly after leaving university, with a partner. My idea at that time was to make a practical and useful business publication for small and medium enterprises. I remember having \"the napkin\" in the pure romantic style of the entrepreneur, the napkin full of notes and diagrams.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>But unfortunately we never went from the idea to the action. That's right, there was a lot of emotion. The problem is that there was no serious commitment to the project.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I followed on my own and he on his. Really what he wanted was to study a master's degree and get a job.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Soon after I started selling websites for companies. Soon I reconnected with a friend of yesteryear who, if I remember correctly, was a salesman and had some contacts that could be of mutual benefit. I offered to associate He accepted.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>It was informal, because we did not do paperwork.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>One day he says he had a project on the door. A company was dissatisfied with its job search website (around 2010 such sites were very popular with Monster and OCCMundial expanding). I was excited to see that in this project I could add a lot of value. Your existing website left a lot to be desired.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>But the day of the presentation I got an unpleasant surprise.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>My \"partner\" had led others to the presentation before me. By phone messages I only made it long. It was the last time I wanted to \"work\" with him.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>So I went ahead. Continuing with this same business of making websites for business, I got to have conversations with a former co-worker from the days when I was an ABAP programmer.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>He wanted to start, in the romantic sense. I did not have a particular idea, only aspirations. So I offered to get on my boat. Back then I was a lone entrepreneur, so a couple of extra hands would be useful.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Similar to my first story, it was more talk than done. His work was inconsistent, his passion very medium. Suddenly, he disappeared from my life. So without saying anything. Good thing I did not do paperwork with him either.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I have always looked for the person who wants to be a member to prove himself before formalizing our marriage. And up to this point, the 3 potential partners had been a disappointment.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>They spent about 2 years between these 3 stories.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Around those times my career took a turn. I had enrolled in a special ITESM course with Stanford University on entrepreneurship and business development in the business incubator. My project was the winner, it went hand in hand with what I already did.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>However my goal was to learn to sell. Up until then, all the clients that I had were directly recommended or I fell very easily, luckily.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>So, I left my business to embark on an adventure to learn more about marketing and sales on my own. I was lucky to meet some of the best marketers in the world and discover several \"secrets\" about which I created my new business.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I started writing and giving lectures to solidify what I learned, share and start a new adventure.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>However, all my \"contacts\" in this world were American and I wanted to have more Mexican contacts. Unfortunately, very few have direct response marketing knowledge and it is difficult to find them.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Until I found one.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>We became friends, mainly on the Internet. The two from Mexico City. And he was the one who asked me to come together to do a common project. We start working. I must say that I am a demanding person and that can make it difficult to work with me.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Everything was going well and we decided to start lecturing together. But suddenly he stopped talking to me. For no reason. What happened? He did not answer me messages. And I decided to take my intellectual capital invested and continue alone. We did not do a conference.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I have followed alone since then. Goodbye to Steve and Woz's dream and hello to Elon Musk's, because he does not have Robin or does he?</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Getting a partner is difficult</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>You need a person oriented to work, with an itch. The desire to do something and that the project they do together is a channel to achieve it.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Even when you get it, professional investors do not recommend that you do 50/50 partnerships (in Quora there will be many answers in English about this). But if you do not, can you generate resentment? Can you compromise less?</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>And at the end of the day will you be giving half of your project when you are the one who really wants it?</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>So you must be sharp and protect your interests. You must be fair, and also in the legal environment one can have the most actions and the other the last word.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>But perhaps a strong indicator of success, as I see with some business friends, is that your partner has a strong work ethic and a great commitment to the company. In this sense, it is less risky to get a partner when he has already proved his worth in your company than to do the project \"from 0 to 1\" giving away a company from before.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>But the circumstances of life will always overtake us. So define your goals well:</p>\n<p><strong>Why do you want a partner?</strong></p>\n<p><strong>What does the partner have to contribute so that you consider giving half of your company?</strong></p>\n<p>How much is too little to offer? There are horror stories where the one who works the hardest only has 20% of the company while their two partners have 40% and asks in Quora in English how to protect themselves because they want to reduce their participation.</p>\n<p><strong>How do you know you are fair or are they fair to you?</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Do you feel lucky?</strong></p>\n<p>And if you have a candidate at the door you must be very realistic about what you can ask for and what you can not. I have seen cases where the partner is expected to \"improve\" and adopt without taste what the other partner does not want to do, and rarely will.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>While you can, and as practically all venture capitalists will suggest, do things by yourself until you can not do it outright. And so, better get capital to get employees and reward your most capable, loyal and ambitious employees with participation in the company.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>If you are a company that distributes profits, you can do it without creating partnerships. You should consult with a commercial lawyer.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I hope my answer will serve you.</p>\n<p><br></p>","appDepth":2,"appParentPermlink":"pk8cmdllx","appParentAuthor":"sumaia188","musingAppId":"aU2p3C3a8N","musingAppVersion":"1.1","musingPostType":"answer"}" |
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