• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

A co-founder worth fighting for

Published: Monday, 28 January 2013

My co-founder didn't want to work on my next start-up idea with me because he was too tired.

I didn't want to work on his next start-up idea because I didn't understand the business model.

So I thought about finding a new co-founder.  Which made me think about what makes a good co-founder.  At the most basic level, they have to

  • get along well with me
  • have complimentary skills
  • be ruthlessly authentic enough with me to hold me accountable

And it made me realise the relationship between co-founders is make-or-break for start-ups.  If co-founders don't get along, can't agree on things, or are too polite, the start-up is what suffers.

I didn't want to do a dance to find another co-founder I'd have to get used to spending 120 hours a week with, so I worked my hardest until I convinced my current co-founder to be my co-founder again in my next venture (I found out every single concern he had about doing another start-up with me over the course of a few weeks and allayed all of them).

Good things are rare and worth fighting for.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • I don’t have time for that

    Do you ever think to yourself that you can’t do this? That you’re not smart enough? That you haven’t practised enough? That you’re not ready? That...

  • Losing focus

    From an organisational point of view, it's better to focus on doing a small number of things right, than a large number of things wrong. In...

  • TEDx Aipoly

    Alberto and I gave a speech about Aipoly at TEDxMelbourne, where we showcased Aipoly Vision being used via glasses.  Aipoly has now been downloaded...

  • Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Trade Mission

    I led a trip to Israel with Wyatt Roy, Assistant Minister for Innovation, for a group of 45 entrepreneurs, politicians and business people, in order to...

  • 10 million

    My goal with my blog wasn't to reach 10 million views.  (And it hasn't.) My goal was to learn discipline:  making myself contribute to the world each...

  • AI Most Influential Woman in Engineering 2000-2020

    This AI named me the 29th most influential woman in engineering from 2000-2020! It looked up frequency of my name being mentioned alongside an...

  • Worse than procrastination

    One of the biggest muscles to exercise shouldn't be getting yourself motivated to not procrasinate.  Sure, procrastination is a big issue, and...

  • The meaning of no

    No doesn't mean… I hate you. You suck. Your project is stupid. You're not good enough. You're wasting your time on your project. You should be...

  • Live at Shell Eco-Marathon Asia

    It's been full-on in Malaysia at Shell Eco-Marathon Asia. The most exciting thing has been tracking our Australian entrant, Girton Grammar Team...

  • Global Summit of Women in Tokyo

    I attended the Global Summit of Women in Tokyo, Japan 11-13 May and gave a presentation about aubot, then spoke on a panel.  It was live-translated...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top