Raising money
How do you find a cofounder?
Start with people you've worked with, then go where people building things meet. Look for the skills you lack and someone who works at your pace. Test the partnership on something small with a deadline, then agree roles, time and the split in writing before anyone commits.
What should you look for in a cofounder?
Skills you don't have, and values you share. Someone who makes things needs someone who sells them, and the other way around. Beyond skills, look for the same pace, the same appetite for risk and the same idea of what success looks like.
Trust matters most. You'll make hard decisions together for years, so choose someone whose judgment you'd follow on a bad day.
Where do you find one?
Usually among people who already know your work:
- People you've worked or studied with, who've seen you under pressure.
- Your own early backers and community. Some of the people who pay for a first version want to help build it.
- Meetups, hackathons and programs for people starting something where you live.
- Online communities around what you make.
Services that match cofounders exist too. CoFunders isn't one: we help you fund a first version, which gives you something real to show whoever you meet.
How do you test a partnership before you commit?
Work on something small together, with a real deadline. A weekend project, a prototype or a first campaign shows how you decide, split the work and handle a setback, which no conversation can.
A crowdfunding campaign makes a good test: it has a goal, a date and real people waiting. If you'd both do it again at the end, that's a strong sign. How to raise money for your idea shows how to start, and how a campaign works on CoFunders covers the rest.
What should you agree in writing?
Roles, the time each of you gives, the money each puts in, the split and what happens if someone leaves. Shares are usually earned over time, often four years with a one year cliff, so someone who leaves early keeps only what they've earned.
The equity split calculator gives you a starting point to talk about. Then ask a lawyer where your company is registered to turn what you agree into a contract.
Your next step
Write down the three skills your project lacks most, and three people you've worked with who have one of them. Then work out a starting split with the equity split calculator, and read how to raise money for your idea.