When starting a new business, having the right co-founder is essential. You will be spending a lot of time with this person, and you need to trust them and understand that their skill set will complement your own. So what kind of co-founder should you look for? Well, there are three main types: the hustler, the hacker, and the hipster. So if you're looking for a business partner (and you should be!), here's what each type brings to the table:
The hustler.
The hustler. This is the savvy business person who makes sure the company makes money. They are driven, ambitious, and goal-oriented. They can work hard and are good at sales. A hustler's personality traits include:
- being motivated by money and success
- being an extrovert (not shy)
- having discipline (doing what they have to do)
- being a networker (knowing lots of people)
The hacker.
Hacking is the process of building the product. As a hacker, you will be responsible for creating and implementing the code that enables your company to function. Sure, you'll need to learn some marketing and finance as well—you can't avoid those completely—, but if you're a hacker at heart, it's what gets you up in the morning and keeps your brain humming through the day.
Hackers are analytical, structured thinkers who love solving problems in their heads before writing down an answer on paper or typing them into Github. They're usually introverts who enjoy being alone with their computers more than they do talking to other people about their work (though this isn't always true). Hackers are good at following through on tasks—the more complex and challenging they are, the better! Hackers don't usually get excited about customers because:
- They don't like having too many people look over their shoulder while coding.
- Most customers don't understand technical terms like "server" or "database" anyway.
- Hackers spend so much time building something new that they rarely have energy left over for customer support after launch day comes around!
The hipster.
The hipster is the designer. If you're looking for a co-founder who can help you develop your product and ensure it delivers the best customer experience, then the hipster is for you. Hiring a hipster as your co-founder will allow you to create a delightful product that people love using and talking about—and this is key to getting traction in the market.
A good hipster knows how to turn their ideas into beautiful products that people want to use daily. A great example of this is Apple's iPhone: Steve Jobs was able to turn his idea of an iPod with touch screen technology into one of the most successful products ever created by playing with trends and integrating them with his vision.
As a bonus, if there's any coding involved in this process (which there usually isn't), a good hipster also knows how to code! This means they'll be able to do things like build websites from scratch or fix bugs on existing sites without any problems at all.
If you are starting a startup, knowing and understanding your skills and personality, as well as those of your co-founders, is essential to success.
- Understand your own skills and personality.
- Understand your co-founders' skills and personalities.
- Understand what your startup needs to succeed.
- Understand the startup's market and target customers.
- Understand the startup's competitors. If you are starting a startup, knowing and understanding your own skills and personality as well as those of your co-founders is essential to success.
All three types play an equally critical role and that you need all three on your team. Of course, you may find yourself to be one or the other, or maybe even all three—but if that's the case for you, hire people who complement your strengths and fill in your weaknesses. No matter what type of founder you are, though, remember that each one is only as good as the others around them.
