How to find a Cofounder
Practical tips for finding your business partner
Last year I was on a sabbatical thinking about what I wanted to do next.
Like many of my friends and colleagues in tech, I knew I wanted to start a company, but I didn’t quite know what problem it would solve. I did know that I wouldn’t want to build it alone, and that the cofounder hunt would be long and arduous, so I wanted to get a head-start on that process.
In my previous ventures, I had the good fortune of being in close proximity to potential cofounders in college. But this time I wasn’t in a confined geographic area with tons of serendipity and friends wandering around. In fact, I had just moved to a new city and was just getting my bearings for where I’d live.
From May of 2023 until January 2024, I was on the hunt for a cofounder until I met Kiet and we started building Onlook together. Finding a cofounder to start a company with took months, but there are a couple of things I learned along the way that I think can make the process quicker and smoother for anyone trying to team up with someone.
I’ll break down tips for sourcing a cofounder, setting up a work trial, and other nuances to consider when vetting a partner for building a venture.
Tips for Finding a Cofounder
Sourcing a Cofounder
Start Early
The first and most critical tip is to start early. The sooner you signal your interest in starting something, the better your chances of finding the right person. I get it—there are a million reasons to keep your intentions under wraps. Maybe you’re already in a job and don’t want to set off any alerts among your coworkers or boss, or you’re just not ready to announce to the world that you’re looking to launch something new.
But here’s the thing: life is short.
The more you put yourself out there, whether through your online activities or in-person networking, the more you increase the chances of stumbling across that perfect partner. The hardest part of finding a co-founder is filling the funnel. You need to meet people, get introduced to other people, and maximize the serendipity of the process.
The best resource for finding cofounders is YC’s Cofounder Matching platform. Everyone on the platform has already self-selected to want to start a company, and the YC brand attracts a lot of great people.
Yes, you will see tons of profiles that are not quite what you’re looking for, but don’t lose faith – there are a handful of people that may change your life forever.
Make your profile on YC Cofounder Matching as thorough as you can
When you decide to join YC’s platform, make sure you fill out your profile entirely. One of the most annoying things when vetting cofounder profiles is going through and seeing half-hearted profiles or profiles that are extra secretive about what they are building.
Here’s a hard fact: If you’re vague on your profile, nobody will take you seriously.
You really have one chance to make a good impression before someone skips over you, and you want enough keywords of what you’re interested in on your profile so it can pique someone’s interest. More is more in this case, even if you’re not totally sure what you want to work on in this very moment.
Here’s a list of some categories you may want to add in your description if you’re at all interested in them:
Friendship Isn’t a Requirement
Don’t assume that your co-founder has to be a friend. In fact, a pre-existing friendship can sometimes complicate things. I’ve found more success with co-founders who started as acquaintances or professional contacts. There’s less baggage, and you can approach the relationship with a clear head. That said, getting a referral from a trusted friend can be invaluable—it gives you another layer of insight into the person you’re considering teaming up with.
Meet as Many People as Possible
This one’s simple: the more conversations you have, the better your chances of finding the right person. Be transparent about your expectations, whether it’s about co-location, the product category, or your roles and responsibilities. Transparency from the start helps avoid misunderstandings down the line.
Co-location Isn’t Always Necessary, But Communication Must Be Tight
Interestingly, co-location has become less of a requirement, especially post-COVID. While some investors still hold onto the belief that founders need to work in the same physical space to succeed, I’ve found that it’s not always necessary. Yes, there might be a slight communication loss when working remotely—about 20% or so—but this can be mitigated by maintaining transparency and ensuring that each co-founder has distinct roles that don’t require constant overlap. I’m sure many investors will disagree with this philosophy.
We take advantage of being remote for now in that we record almost all of our meetings and conversations so if a founder needs to be brought up to speed on a customer conversation, they can relive the call.
Also, if you are thinking of going remote, GitLab and Zapier are both successful remote companies that have great guides on working remote:
Use Co-Founder Questionnaires
Once you think you’ve found someone who could be a good cofounder, I highly recommend going through co-founder questionnaires like those from Y Combinator (Link) or First Round Capital (.pdf Link). These can help you and your potential co-founder align on critical aspects of the business and your working relationship. But don’t do this too early in the process—you need to first establish that you can work well together before diving into the nitty-gritty.
Setting up a Work Trial
The work trial is essential. You need to see evidence that your potential co-founder can pull their weight. Too often, startups fail because one person is the “idea guy” while the other is the technical workhorse. That’s a recipe for disaster. You need to be sure that you’re both committed to the hard work ahead and get a feel for just how much you contribute relative to each other.
Make the work trial as long as you can. Having a timeframe of a month or longer means you can focus on delivering something more so than hitting a deadline.
Maximize Time Spent on the Idea During the Trial
Ideally, both you and your potential co-founder would dedicate as much time as possible to the startup idea during the work trial. This gives you the clearest picture of what a longer-term working relationship would look like.
However, I understand that this isn’t always possible, especially if one or both of you are still wrapping up other commitments. That’s why it’s important to focus on the quality of the time spent, not just the quantity.
You need to simulate working together as much as you can.
Define Roles and Responsibilities Early On
By the second or third week of your work trial, it’s crucial to start outlining roles and responsibilities. This doesn’t mean you need to lock in titles or job descriptions just yet but having a clear understanding of who’s handling what will help prevent confusion (and conflict) down the line. I always recommend that each co-founder work on things separately at first and then come together to compare notes, and this is a great case. This way, you can identify any differences in expectations and get a clearer picture of how you both approach problem-solving.
Roles and responsibilities are a great step for holding each other accountable for executing things. Also, if one of you is in charge of a category (like company finances), and they need something (like receipts or sign-off on something) that is in the other founder’s inbox, the agreed roles and responsibilities gives the one in charge authority to insist or press the other for things in their domain.
The accountability, even for categories you haven’t quite figured out yet, is very helpful, especially because these categories can sneak up on you at any time. Here’s a good split to consider:
Other tips for a successful start to the cofounder relationship
Don’t Be Too Picky About Compensation Early On
When you’re still in the “dating” phase with a potential co-founder, don’t get too hung up on the details of compensation. It’s very hard to assume how much someone is going to put into a project even if you think your skills don’t overlap. If you approach this conversation too early with no evidence of how you work together, it will immediately sour the relationship. Deferring the compensation discussion allows you to get a sense of whether the partnership is actually viable before locking in anything concrete.
Also, you can have a genuine conversation based on both of your perceived outputs from a work trial. There will be a lot of baggage depending on who’s idea the concept originally was, but just remember that in the grand scheme of things it’s more important for the company to survive than for one person to have 5-20% more than the other person.
You both want to be winners especially because when the first round of financing comes through, there will be a big slice of equity that gets taken away from the company.
Communication Styles Are Crucial
During the work trial, one of the most important aspects to pay attention to is how you and your potential co-founder communicate. This is why I recommend the trial lasts a long enough time—it gives you a chance to understand each other’s communication preferences and adjust accordingly. Whether you’re discussing strategy, problem-solving, or giving feedback, effective communication is the backbone of a successful partnership. Make sure you both can articulate your thoughts clearly and understand how the other person likes to receive information. This clarity will save you from future misunderstandings.
Run Meetings with Tight Agendas
Whether you’re working in person or remotely, running meetings with tight agendas is a must. Startups thrive on execution, and every meeting should be an opportunity to make progress, not just discuss ideas. Leaving things up in the air is how things fall apart, especially during the early stages. Being efficient with your time during the work trial is critical—you need to be able to assess how well you and your co-founder can work together under the pressure of constant execution.
Also, you need to get good at making decisions with imperfect information. Remember that you can always decide to revisit a decision with more information, but make sure that is clear to both cofounders.
Finding the right co-founder is a process that requires patience, transparency, and a willingness to dive deep into the hard questions early on. It’s not just about finding someone who shares your vision—it’s about finding someone who communicates well, who complements your skill set, and who you can trust to be in the trenches with you when things get tough. For a long long long time.
By following these tips, you’ll be better equipped to build a strong, lasting partnership that can take your startup from idea to execution and beyond.
Let me know if you found any of this helpful, and if you’d like me to take a look at your YC Cofounder Matching profile, please don’t hesitate to reach out – I’m daniel@onlook.dev.
The idea of a work trial is nice. I think things should work pretty seamlessly, if certain areas like comp are causing issues from the start it's not a great sign.