The band name stays the same, but the band members change
I’m convinced that startups rarely die from competition. They often die from within, long before anything external could lead to a shutdown.
As founders, we go through event after event, uncomfortable moment after uncomfortable moment. Those events and moments shape us and leave scars. Sometimes it’s too much, and we can’t handle it. Sometimes life happens, taking us in another direction. Sometimes after the honeymoon stage wears off with your co-founder, when a real trough of sorrow is upon you, you realize you have 2 different outlooks on life. Sometimes going through those traumatic events together as founders bring you closer together. And, sometimes, you even fall in love with your co-founder through having a high level of admiration for them.
Here are my co-founder experiences from failing, leaving, and staying with companies. I hope it highlights that no company has a clear path to success with co-founders. I also hope it paints a picture that most companies were started much longer ago than people realize. It’s a long and sometimes slow grind, even though it can feel like you’re building and shipping product at a million miles a minute.
KinoSol: Solar food dehydrators for farmers in developing countries.
2014: launched, +5 co-founders
2015: -1 co-founder
2016: 2 full-time, 2 part-time co-founders
2017: -2 co-founders
2018: -1 co-founder (myself)
2019-present: 1 co-founder remains in the day-to-day (which has been paused due to COVID)
My takeaways that cost us time, heartache, and capital:
1. When KinoSol won a business plan competition in Minnesota in the earliest days, we weren’t yet a formed company. Part of that competition’s prizes included free entity filings, by-laws, etc. That free help later cost us more in legal fees, to help get the cap table cleaned up. The lawyers helping us didn’t have backgrounds in tech company or startup formations.
Do your lawyers (or other service providers) have expertise and experience in helping companies like yours, at your stage?
2. I wish someone had shown us a 4-year vesting schedule, with a 1-year cliff. We had no idea how vesting worked. It became messy as each co-founder left, with what their position on the cap table looked like. Had we needed to raise outside capital, I don’t think we could have gotten it done easily.
Are you and your co-founders vesting alongside of and with the same timelines of your employees?
Young Entrepreneur Convention: Annual event to celebrate and help entrepreneurship grow in Iowa.
2016: launched, +9 co-founders (organizers)
2017: -4 co-founders
2018: -1 co-founder
2019: -1 co-founder
2020: 2 co-founders remain in day-to-day (2020 event postponed to fall 2021)
My takeaways that cost us time, heartache, and capital:
1. Any new brand to the market takes more time to gain traction than you think. Young Entrepreneur Convention was the new kid on the block for events in Iowa. For years 1-3, we were torn between 2 tracks—lifestyle business and tech company. That stretched us thin, and we couldn’t keep every attendee happy.
Are you focused on 2 segments?
2. Rebuilding the brand and mission is okay. Before our 2019 event, it was still unclear of who our ideal attendee was, and therefore it was unclear of who our ideal sponsor was. That is not a healthy combination. Thankfully the remaining 3 of us co-founders were able to walk through the steps in rebranding, and we arrived at our most concise mission statement we’ve had; “founders helping founders.”
What are your mission and vision statements? I’ve always looked at a vision statement as what happens if you accomplish your mission.
Nebullam: Direct-to-Consumer indoor farms.
2016: ideation, +2 co-founders
2017: launched, +1 co-founder, raised capital
2018: we spent almost the entire year in the trough of sorrow but managed to make progress and stay alive, and raised more capital
2019: Grew the team too quickly and lost most of the team
2020: -1 co-founder, + 1 pandemic and new business model
2021: original 2 co-founders remain, and we have an entirely different team
My takeaways that cost us time, heartache, and capital:
1. It was hard for us to have remote team members, being a hardware, software, and living organism company. For me, remote work removes the human connection that builds the strongest bonds.
Will an in-person, hybrid, or a fully remote team work for you?
2. We used to think having a large team would be impressive. So we hired for many “nice-to-have” positions for the stage we were at. When we had to downsize the team, I avoided making the decision for much longer than it should have taken. I also messed up when it came time for layoffs, by doing waves of layoffs. I should have made one round of layoffs in total. The waves of layoffs brought morale down for everyone—it hit Danen and I the hardest.
Are you searching for must-have positions, or nice-to-have positions, for the stage you’re at?
Either way, it’s okay for your band name to stay the same, while band members change.