I’m really excited to have this opportunity to explore a working relationship with you. I truly believe it is critical for the cofounders to have a strong understanding of one another, and make sure there will be strong long-term professional compatibility to build a successful business.
I’ve created a process that I believe allows us to slowly explore different critical aspects of who we are, how we operate, and what we aim to achieve. This is a completely opt-in process, if you do not feel comfortable following this process I am open to any suggestions. But, for me it is important to ensure we follow a thorough process. Here is to hoping that we have fun while we do it :)
I will preface by saying that I will no hard feelings if at any point you would like to inform me that this relationship is not one you foresee working out for you and I hope the same is true for you.
For the sake of not dragging things along, I commit to providing a response to you within 48 hours after each step if I would like to proceed to the next step, I just ask that you provide the same courtesy. Additionally, I am open to providing any and all references at any part in the process.
I’m proposing the following process:
Values and Goals Bi-directional Interview → Teach me something → Let’s build a Mission Statement & Idea Validation Process Together → Idea brainstorming, validation sprint(s) → Roles, Responsibilities, Logistics → Let’s meet in person → Form a company together
Time Commitment: 2 Hours
I’d like to give each of us an hour to ask each other questions that we both deem important to establishing a relationship. I will leave it up to you to ask questions that you believe are the most important to you. I’ve attached a document to give you some potential options.
https://proof-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/firstround/50 Questions for Co-Founders.pdf
Time Commitment: 1 Hour
From my previous experience, when you spend significant time with someone they are often teaching you something. I’d like to take 30 minutes each for us to teach something to the other person, there are no rules or topic limits here. Any topic, any format.
Time Commitment: 2 Hours
Some people want to dive deep into building ideas together, but my personal belief is that being aligned on a mission or “why” is much more critical. This allows for us to have an important foundation to build on top of or come back to at times when we need to make important decisions. This Mission Statement can change as we explore later, but it would be good to build one for the idea validation process.