Video · 20 min

How to Find the Right Co-Founder

Harj Taggar · Y Combinator Startup Library (Harj Taggar) Free Beginner

YC partner Harj Taggar walks through where co-founders actually come from, when to bring one on, and how to run the search deliberately rather than waiting for lightning. He is blunt that most people underinvest in this and treat it as luck, which is the exact mistake our answer warns against. Good to watch early so you set expectations before you start reaching out.

  • Treat the co-founder search as a real project with real hours, not a background hope
  • The best pools are people you have already worked or studied with, then wider builder communities
  • Test the working relationship on something real before you commit
Open on ycombinator.com ↗

It answers 3 questions

  1. How do I actually find a technical co-founder?
  2. My co-founder has the domain expertise and I don't. Do we split founder-market fit, or is only one of us 'the fit'?
  3. Investors passed and said 'we love the space but aren't sure you're the right team for it'. How do I fix that?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The largest and most credible free co-founder matching platform in the world, with vetted founders and 100,000+ matches made.... ycombinator.com Tool · Free platform, ongoing Y Combinator Co-Founder Matching Y Combinator
  3. This piece pushes on the part founders skip: figuring out exactly which gaps a co-founder should fill before you go looking,... First Round Review Article · 15 min read Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: How to Find a Co-Founder Steve Blank
  4. The ready-to-use questionnaire from the Founder Dating Playbook, covering roles, values, money, commitment, and how you each... First Round Review Template 50 Questions to Explore With a Potential Co-Founder Gloria Lin
  5. Video · 50 min How to Start a Startup, Lecture 2: Team and Execution Sam Altman
  6. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
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