{"id":6069,"date":"2014-02-19T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=4784"},"modified":"2020-03-30T19:07:58","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T23:07:58","slug":"found-pitched-founder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/found-pitched-founder","title":{"rendered":"How I found\u2014and pitched\u2014my cofounder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it will not be possible to clone yourself during your lifetime. Major bummer, right? That means that uttering, \u201cIf only there were two of me, I could get this done so much faster!\u201d under your breath is never going to be a viable solution for getting something done, no matter how much you will it to happen. That includes starting a business. I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that cold hard truth out there in the open, let\u2019s talk about an alternative. If it\u2019s physically impossible to be in two places at the same time, what\u2019s the next best thing? As I pondered this question while trying to decide whether or not to leave my secure, well-paying corporate job to start my own company, I began to consider enlisting the help of a partner in crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How I found (and pitched) my co-founder<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is no shortage of stories on co-founders. For every horror story about a business partnership gone awry, there are glowing commentaries about perfect, made-in-heaven matches that joined forces to conquer the world. Don\u2019t believe me? Do a Google search. There are thousands of thought leaders arguing passionately on both sides of the issue. As with most things in life, the truth can probably be found somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, the decision to start \u2018ZinePak with a co-founder came down to the simple fact that I thought it would be more enjoyable with someone else. I knew that the company\u2014 which creates custom publications for celebrities, brands and VIP-style ticketing for special events \u2014 would likely start out as a home-based business with freelance partners. I didn\u2019t like the idea of being isolated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My co-founder Kim Kaupe and I were co-workers at an advertising agency. Although we didn\u2019t know each other all that well, I enjoyed working with her and thought our complementary skills (my background was in entertainment and hers was in magazine publishing) would benefit the business. When I told her about \u2018ZinePak, I positioned it as a soft pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m planning on doing this new thing,\u201d I said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be a lot more fun than what I\u2019m doing here. You\u2019d be really great at it, too. What do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formalizing our relationship<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A few days later, she said, \u201cAbout that thing you\u2019re doing. It sounds pretty cool. I\u2019m in.\u201d That night we went to Starbucks after work and sketched out an idea of what the company would look like. How much capital would we need? How would we get customers? How would we get vendors? Did we need employees right away?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We made our best guesses to each question and decided we would figure the rest out along the way. We agreed on an equity split, did a Google search to determine what corporate structure was most appropriate, and set up email addresses at our shiny new domain name. And with that, our business partnership was solidified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could Kim and I have spent months formalizing a 60-page partnership agreement and trying to map out every single hypothetical for the next twenty years? Of course. But we focused that energy on building an amazing company instead. We still don\u2019t have a full-executed partnership agreement. We\u2019ll probably get around to it one day, but in the meantime, we both trust each other to do the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefits of a two-founder team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although I don\u2019t have children, I imagine that starting a company alone must be something like being a single parent. In the early stages of a business, a startup requires almost around-the-clock attention. I didn\u2019t get seven consecutive hours of sleep in the first 18 months of \u2018ZinePak. The sleep I did get was filled with dreams (and sometimes cold-sweat-inducing nightmares!) about the work awaiting me in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same way parents divide the responsibilities of raising a child and celebrate milestones together, co-founders can divvy up the workload and share in the accomplishments of their growing company. (We like to joke that \u2018ZinePak is out of the toddler stage and onto the pre-school stage. Top of the class, naturally!) The benefits to this approach are many:<\/p>\n\n\n\n