Synergistic Downfall

Reading Between The Lines

Next on our tales of bad cofounder matches is the most underwhelming but painful.

Adam met Paul on a cofounder matching platform. Adam was a product and design person with an excellent idea for an app in the Education space. He just needed someone to build it.

Paul was an experienced Java developer with a wealth of experience. They started well, getting a product to market quickly.

Soon, cracks appeared. Adam knew the importance of solving the business problem and working the software around it. Paul was used to working for someone else and expected to be handed a spec outlining the software to be built. This works at big companies. At startups, however, everyone must own the business, especially founders. Adam was still actively working with Paul. The vibe on the call was that he didn’t want to speak ill of his co-founder in case it got back to him. But it was clear that he was dissatisfied and regretted getting involved with this guy so early.

Looking at his LinkedIn, Adam seems in two minds. Visibly, it seems like he’s working on his startup, but all his messaging concerns consulting, and his experience working at startups. He is trying to make it look like the startup is more successful than it is to salvage an alternate path as a consultant.

Look past the resume and see the underlying drives someone has to make the choice.