Roles & People
Co-founder
Also Known As
CofounderFounding Partner
A co-founder is one of two or more individuals who jointly establish a company, sharing responsibility for its creation, early development, and typically its equity ownership.
What is a Co-founder?
Co-founders are the people who start a company together. Unlike solo founders, co-founders share the burden (and rewards) of building a company. Most successful startups have 2-3 co-founders.
Co-founder Roles
Common Archetypes:
- CEO/Business Co-founder: Strategy, fundraising, operations
- CTO/Technical Co-founder: Product, engineering, technology
- CPO/Product Co-founder: Design, user experience, product
Finding Co-founders
- Previous colleagues: Known working relationship
- Industry contacts: Shared domain expertise
- Co-founder matching: Platforms like Y Combinator
- Venture studios: Studio matches founders to ideas
Co-founder Agreements
Key terms to agree on:
- Equity split
- Vesting schedule
- Roles and responsibilities
- Decision-making process
- Exit scenarios
Venture Studio as Co-founder
In the studio model, the studio itself acts as a co-founder:
- Provides ideas and validation
- Offers operational support
- Contributes capital
- Takes co-founder level equity (30-50%)
Example Usage
“She and her technical co-founder met through the venture studio's EIR program.”