Conflict between co-founders – whether this be people constantly arguing or those avoiding conversation entirely – can often be the reason why a startup fails.
In a recent article on TechCrunch Garry Tan, co-founder of Posterous, managing partner at Initialized Capital and ex-partner at Y Combinator, explores conflict within the business place and offers some advice based on his own experiences.
Tan explains that conflict can arise in two ways: either co-founders will be constantly bickering over decisions, or they will completely avoid each other, but ultimately they can’t reach a conclusion.
And so, Tan talks through some ways to improve co-founder relationships, including the importance of delegating decision-making based on people’s strengths, listening to other people’s points of view, accepting help and having a strong business and personal relationship.
He writes: “Successful co-founders actually embrace conflict, and are constantly in the process of resolving it.
“If you can’t argue and arrive at the best solution, you’re not doing the work to actually have a real, healthy working relationship.”
Read the full article here.