I've never met my cofounder.

How many other Indie Hackers have never met their cofounders?

What would be the most important tip you could give to other remote cofounder teams?

I've summarized below our experience from idea to launch.

How do you find a cofounder

Lots of trial and error. A good place to start is with previous colleagues that you’ve worked with.

Remember, the stakes are much higher when it’s your own business, so these favourable employee working traits don’t always translate into a good cofounder.

Of course, the "Looking to partner up" group here on Indie Hackers is an awesome place to look. I'm biased as that's where I met the cofounder of Accordably.

What to look for when choosing a cofounder

The ideal match is someone who is the complete opposite of your skillset. Think of it like an ice hockey team. If your team was all goalies, you’d get nowhere. You need balance and different strengths to help push your product over the top.

Now one thing that shouldn’t be the complete opposite is your motivation. Finding someone who has the same drive is important or else there could be a growing resentment in your near future.

How to build trust when you’ve never met?

Just because you meet somebody in person doesn’t automatically create trust. Everyone has their own problems and you’ll never truly understand all the factors that go into their decisions.

So how do you build trust?

Time.

Finding the right idea

This is difficult because whatever you choose you will be committing a large chunk of time to it, so you don’t want to make the wrong choice and get startup remorse.

Long story short, instead of beating your head against a wall trying to find the perfect idea, just start!

Start with anything, inspiration will come, staying stagnant will just make you another wantrepreneur.

Maintaining communication

When it comes to remote cofounders the importance of communication is multiplied. Setting up the proper channels and maintaining a clear schedule is critical for success.

Keeping your teammate informed of your daily/weekly goals helps motivate and set accountability.

It’s very easy to procrastinate when you’re “the boss” but when you see your cofounder working their ass off and you’re doing nothing, that guilt should set in. Unless of course, you’re a prick.

Trust your gut

There is no one size fits all formula to finding a cofounder. People aren’t predictable. It takes time to find the right fit.

The one constant is your gut because no matter who you choose, you’re going to have to take a chance.

You could get burned or feel like you’re doing all the work, that’s just collateral damage in the life of an entrepreneur.

All that you can do is work with the information you’re given and decide if you believe in your cofounder. When it works, it works and you’ll eventually see success.

If you're interested, here's the full article.