My co-founder doesn't take things seriously enough. What should I do?

this is, unfortunately, something that happens very often, most people think about startups as vehicles for getting funding from investors and ideally multimillion "exits" not building products or businesses. So they just sit and wait for someone else to come over and do the work.

If you are a tech person and the other two co-founders are nontech, there is a very high probability all will go down the drain.

If the other two are tech and you are not, then the best you can do is to try to build something with the person that you can actually work with, unless they call themselves a "Front End Developer" or "Python Developer", then just go watch some YouTube or TikTok videos, it will be 100 times more productive way of spending your time.

Hi @nearmint, It is a little hard to understand from your post whether your issue is with him not wanting to meet in person more than 2 days a week, which you two seem to have agreed upon, or that he is not working the rest of the days that you guys are remote. Also, a little hard to gauge why a developer co-founder is fine communicating less frequently than a non-technical founder.

From personal experience, having worked at 4 different fully remote startups, I can attest that, if done correctly, remote work is just as, sometimes more, effective than in-person work. Certain exceptions may be valid for very early-stage startups.

My suggestion would be to set clear deliverables for each co-founder and hold them accountable for those, regardless of their communication style. Communication preferences and styles vary a lot, and building trust between co-founders is the most important factor for success. If you don't see the person delivering on the commitments, then you surely have a problem. If they deliver what's agreed upon, but lack the skill to communicate, then work on bridging the expectation gap on communication.

Finding co-founders is hard, and it can get even messier to get rid of someone if they have equity in the company. So I'd suggest understanding each other's expectations and communication styles and creating a culture of accountability as the best approach here.

I'm picking up 2 different threads in your post:

1. My co-founder prefers to work remotely and I prefer at least some in-person
2. My co-founder (separately from point 1) isn't putting in a serious effort

(1) seems resolvable, though not ideal. Being founders is not unlike being married. And you don't want to commit to marrying someone who has totally different living preferences from you. Having said that, maybe you can you longer video work sessions to simulate working together while still being separate? I think there are lots of services that facilitate this

(2) If this really is a lack of effort and not just your perception due to (1), then I'd cut things off right away. If you can't be motivated at the beginning when things are exciting, then just imagine when you're in the really tough stages.

Hey,

I would think about clearly establishing boundaries. Ideally this is done at the beginning of the relationship but you can still do it now but you can still get there.

Ultimately, what matters is getting the business launched. The way you do that is establish objectives with your team and determine a reasonable timeline. This is as easy as spending 1-2 hours and asking "what should we do next?" You can document the tasks and expected due dates. If teamwork is the issue, you will fall off schedule which gives you the basis to build a better team dynamic.

Overall - focus on the business first then optimizing the team dynamic. The team exists to build the business. It is amazing what open ended questions and documentation compared to games of telephone. You have a right to understand the plan otherwise the business will not be successful.

Would echo a lot of what's been said here.

1. Some people have different ways of working, can completely understand the desire to be more remote. You're in a small town, so theoretically it should be easy to grab a coffee together even if you're not getting much work done, but hopefully that will inspire conversations and output further. Would add to this that if you're not really inspired by that individual then they shouldn't really be part of the founding team, sorry! It doesn't even have to be work-related imho but you need something about that person to have you excited.

2. Definitely if there's not great work ethic or communication, might be first worth asking how they like to communicate? Could they provide a daily standup on your Slack/chat app about what they're up to? A video call?
   Also, are they a team player or more individual? Sounds like more of the latter, which would hold you back until you expand the team further.

Nevertheless, good luck, post back here with how it goes!

Set clear deliverables for you and him, and make everyone accountable around it.

Everyone have different communication styles, your cofounder might just not be the one that is on the talking side.
And about working in person, there is no point if you are measuring everyone's else contribution around their deliverables.

Working in person there is only one reason for it, to get a stronger bond with the person. If your startup goal is not about it, it seems to me that you are asking for it for a personal need, instead of a work/goal related reason.

Joining forces in a work environment is just like getting married. You will need to compromise as well to make it work.

I'm not aware of your Business or Personal situations. These are just my thoughts but I see 3 problems in your post.

1. Lack of Effort(in work)
2. Lack of Seriousness(about work)
3. Lack of communication(personal)

Regarding the first one, Effort: People usually don't tend to work enthusiastically unless they see an immediate benefit in the short term. So, It would be good to track things and celebrate minor victories. Sometimes comparison works to motivate. But you should first verify if the person is actually capable of dedicating himself to work with passion. Does he have the drive towards your business? What's stopping him from putting in extra work?

Regarding the second one, Seriousness: There's not much you can do here. People usually prefer regretting later than working now. you should educate him about the opportunities in Business. And how you're in the sweet spot to claim it and stuff like that. You shouldn't do this personally but as a group to motivate the whole company occasionally maybe once a couple of months.

Regarding the third one, Communication: Some people are not just good at communication. Like how he just trashed your concerns. It happens that not everyone goes through a communication masterclass or how to run a business. I would recommend being more forthcoming and clearly saying what you want to say albeit politely. Some people are just rude but they don't mean anything bad, usually.

Unfortunately, when it comes to people management there's no clear way of addressing it. You should just strive for it in a way you perceive would be the best for the team. If all else fails you should just let the person/business go. Communication between co-founders is of utmost importance in a business.

I think having a Log/weekly stream of what your team/ teams have achieved in minor sprints be accessible to everyone and asking everyone to update it would be a good thing in small businesses. As it shows how much effort other people/teams are putting in and motivates others. This could have an adverse effect on people being demotivated if they are cynical. Ultimately, you have to make your choice.

Let me know if this helps/not.

Firstly face him. Talk about it and set common sense rules. Team work isn't easy but it is worth it

I'm inquisitive, what kind of impact do you think the co-founder will bring in, and how difficult would it be for you to wear multiple hats?

It's good that you guys have started recently, consider the scenario where after building the product, the co-founder drops due to low initial traction.

Perhaps as a technical co-founder, relying on non-tech is largely not necessary, since even if the non-tech finds out the actual problems by user research, you also would need to provide and understand the research, which boils down to eliminating the actual need itself.

So I would suggest, better you get the understanding of relationship early on, and take decisive ways accordingly.

Gracias por el aporte