Passionate but incompetent co-founder or extremely competent but not passionate?
Suppose you were looking for a co-founder, would you pick someone who is really passionate about the vision of your startup, bordering on the religious but has a wanting track record or would you go for someone with an A-Grade track record in dealing with startups but doesn't really share in the vision and mission as passionately? Basically in it for the monetary incentive only, minimal foreseen loyalty to the startup!
Do they have the potential to become competent enough quickly enough to make a good impact?
If yes, choose this co-founder.
Does their lack of passion do any of the following:
hinder them from doing their job well
mean they're likely to leave after a short period of time
negatively influence other team members?
If no to all, choose this co-founder.
Tie-break: if co-founder 1 = yes and 2 = no, choose 1.
Thanks for yours views, I'm guessing I'll go with the competent co-founder, chances are they'll develop more interest down the road!
The #1 cause of startups dying is a bad relationship between co-founders. Try to plan for how you can mitigate fall out / them wanting to leave. Good luck!
Having been part of a brilliant partnerships for 5 years and 8 years, and seen others fail and succeed, there is one test to a good partnership, and that is simply....
Are your values aligned?
If they are, everything else is secondary.
A value, could be passion about what you're doing - and so if it's not there in both of you, the chances of it succeeeding are minimal.
If in doubt, do not go into partnership with either choice.
Good luck!
No, I would not.
Yes, ideally you'd have neither, Antony
Some good answers below, I would look strongly on the passion and value aspects because if its a bootstrapped early stage company, it's gong to be a learning process for all involved with many different pivots and problems to figure out. It would be a great opportunity to discover and learn on the fly and could be easier if you are dealing with someone who has the same aligned goals...
While someone with a great track record may have difficultly navigating the uncharted waters because through their past successes their processes maybe set in stone and not viable for needs at hand.