Stop having the same fight.
You don't have a business problem. You have a conversation you're avoiding. I help cofounders have it, so the partnership becomes the strongest part of the company instead of the thing that blows it up.
Think you two are fine? The pairs I worry about most look fine together and tell two different stories in private.
Ten questions and about five minutes. Each of you answers separately.
It's the same fight. Only the topic changes.
Most cofounder pairs I meet aren't short on talent or strategy. They're stuck in a loop they can't see from inside it.
I believe most startups don't die from the market. They die when the founders stop being able to talk to each other.
Here is what changes when the fight stops.
They nearly split three times on the way there.
Every decision had turned into a referendum on whose company it was. They are now raising at a billion-dollar valuation, and they credit the work on their partnership with getting them there.
They went from texting only to closing major deals together.
Their arguments had gotten so explosive that they stopped talking in person, right as they found product-market fit. Within three sessions, each of them could name their own part in the dynamic. Now they take walks together, give each other feedback before it's asked for, and are closing major deals as a team.
They turned quiet doubts into their biggest advantage.
They were aligned on the company and still had private doubts about each other, so they started coaching before those doubts grew. Since then they have built a strong culture while scaling, and they used what they learned with each other to win a major negotiation with one of their investors.
“Every time I do this session, I always get something out of it that is very practical and tactical. You force us to get into the things that are uncomfortable.”
Cofounder, venture-backed company
“Jonah has been incredibly helpful. He taught us a simple negotiation framework that literally paid for the engagement on our last term sheet.”
Cofounder, scaling company
The skills don't stay between cofounders. Founders use them to negotiate with investors, to sell, and to lead their teams.
This is how the work goes.
Name the fight underneath the fights.
Every pair has one argument that keeps coming back with a new topic. We find it and give it a name you can both use, so you can catch it in the moment instead of a week later.
Have the conversation you've been avoiding.
With me in the room, you say the thing you've been rehearsing in your head for months, and you hear what your cofounder has been holding back.
Build an operating system for the relationship.
You built one for the company. We build one for the two of you: how you decide, how you disagree, and how you repair after a bad week.
Find out where your partnership actually stands.
Ten questions, answered separately by each of you. Then you see which kind of pair you are and exactly where your answers differ.
Your answers stay in your browser unless you choose to email yourself the result.
The strong pair
You handle each other well and you see the same company.
The dangerous pair
You look fine together and tell two different stories in private.
The coachable pair
You agree on the facts. How you treat each other is the problem.
Two different companies
The founding team has become the main risk in the business.
Here is what the fight costs, and what changes when it stops.
If nothing changes
- The company implodes from conflict while the market still looks fine.
- Your team, your investors and your customers pay for a fight they never saw.
- You keep the company and lose the partner, or you lose both.
- The same fight follows you to every stage, with more at stake each time.
When it works
- You like each other again, and you know your cofounder has your back.
- Decisions take hours instead of weeks.
- Your disagreements start making the company better.
- You look forward to working together again.
- Your investors see the partnership as the strength of the company.
Prefer a small group? Zero Zero Guild brings a few cofounder pairs together twice a month with me and Arthur Levitan.
About the GuildThe conversation you're avoiding is the one that will move the company.
Start with ten questions, or start with a call.