Discoveries #28 | Why 65% of Co-Founders Fail
Welcome to Edition 28 of Discoveries where I share inspiration on design, product building, and what's next.
Why 65% of Co-Founders Fail
Recently, I sat down with my co-founder Healey on the “Don’t Be A Jerk” podcast for a super honest conversation about co-founder relationships. Not the polished Linkedin version... the real stuff.
The hard conversations. The disagreements. The tension between speed and craft. The things that quietly break companies if you don’t talk about them early.
A few founder friends reached out afterward saying the episode sparked really valuable conversations with their own co-founders, so I figured I’d share it here too.
We go deep into:
- How we actually met and why we tried three companies first
- Why our biggest breakthroughs usually came from disagreement
- The “Swoop and Poop” problem
- The pre-parade and pre-mortem exercises every founding team should do
- Why telling your team the real problem is your strongest leadership tool
- Why being too similar is actually dangerous for co-founders
- Integrity in the micro-decisions and why it becomes the whole architecture
- The outsider advantage... and when it eventually runs out
Hope you enjoy it 😊
What I'm Reading
🔗 Great design was a Cuisinart
Interface design, especially for appliances, has gotten wildly overcomplicated.
I bought a new refrigerator recently and apparently I now need to download an app, create an account, verify my email, and connect to Wi-Fi… to keep my vegetables cold.
We need to return to the simplicity of the Cuisinart.
Product Inspiration
This product is gorgeous, simple, useful. 10/10.
Other Finds
“You are under no obligation to be the same person as yesterday.”
Have a great week,
Blake
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