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Home > Asia Tech Podcast > 242: Startup Co Founders – Do You Need Them? (The Start STA3)
Podcast: Asia Tech Podcast
Episode:

242: Startup Co Founders – Do You Need Them? (The Start STA3)
Category: Business
Duration: 00:48:42
Publish Date: 2018-04-28 19:00:00
Description:

Podcast highlights:

  • 09:20 Gustavo shares a true story about ageism in the start up industry in Asia where older founders over 50 cannot gain investors without having younger co-founders
  • 17:20 Dennis and Gustavo share their thoughts on having co-founders and the importance of finding the right co-founder
  • 37:30 Three is the magic number- a collaboration of three co-founders (the hustler, the hacker and the hipster) are what investors are looking for

Podcast notes:

  • 00:05 STA3 - The Start with Dennis Poh and Gustavo Liu, hosted by Graham Brown
  • 01:20 Dennis and Gustavo take a guess at the average age of a start up founder
  • 04:23 A MIT survey found that the average age of start up founders who started a high growth company is 45 years old
  • 06:35 Why do we have this misconception that start up founders are young guys in shorts and sandals?
  • 09:20 Gustavo shares a true story about ageism in the start up industry in Asia where older founders over 50 cannot gain investors without having younger co-founders
  • 11:48 The risks of investing in a younger start up founder who has nothing to lose vs the risks of investing in a more experienced, older founder
  • 15:15 Using Dave Duffield as an example who started his first business in his 40s, Gustavo offers his views on the 'sweet spot' in terms of age
  • 17:20 Dennis and Gustavo share their thoughts on having co-founders and the importance of finding the right co-founder
  • 21:21 Finding the right co-founder is like casually dating to find out what you like before committing
  • 23:58 Gustavo's tips for starting a business with friends, from reestablishing the relationship to having the legal aspects put in place
  • 26:57 Going alone vs being in a partnership, when does it make sense to run a business solo?
  • 30:25 A collaboration between co-founders is like a marriage, including the difficult conversations on leveraging each other's strengths
  • 33:52 Gustavo shares a story on how he had to advise a founder to fire his unproductive co-founder and offers advice on how to do so, for example by having a moderator
  • 37:30 Three is the magic number- a collaboration of three co-founders (the hustler, the hacker and the hipster) are what investors are looking for
  • 39:10 The imbalance in the roles between different co-founders where one person does more than the other and the importance of delegating tasks
  • 41:13 Gustavo's advice on delegating effectively, have expectations put in place and look at each other's strengths and workloads
  • 44:04 Graham's perspective on the feeling of being 'stuck' in decision making because of a co-founder
  • 46:22 The money and equity aspect of having a co-founder and how you have to be comfortable letting your co-founder wear the pants in the relationship
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