co-founder

Beginner 🚀 Startup / VC

Definition

The person you start a company with based on four hours of friendship and mutual delusion, who will become either your closest ally or your most expensive breakup. Dating is easier than finding a compatible co-founder.

Example Usage

My co-founder and I have complementary skills—I do all the work while he takes all the credit in TechCrunch interviews.

Origin

Entrepreneurship terminology, combining 'co-' (joint) with 'founder'

Fun Fact

More startups fail from co-founder breakups than from running out of money, yet most founding teams spend less time on relationship agreements than on logo design.

Source: Entrepreneurship and startup formation terminology

Related Terms

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