Business

My 3-Step Process for Picking (or Nixing) a Co-Founder, After 30 Years of Starting Companies

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Published 10/21/2026 2:00:00 PM

My 3-Step Process for Picking (or Nixing) a Co-Founder, After 30 Years of Starting Companies

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“Just find a co-founder” is some of the worst advice we can give new entrepreneurs.

A great co-founder can dramatically improve your odds of success. They can bring skills you don’t have, challenge your thinking, carry part of the load and help turn an idea into a real company. But the wrong co-founder can be far more dangerous than having no co-founder at all. The problem often starts in college. A few friends sit around talking about an idea. Everyone gets excited. Suddenly they’re business partners.

I saw this firsthand when I invested in a small company started by four friends. They generated millions of dollars in sales, but within two years they filed for bankruptcy. These were smart, entrepreneurial young guys who later succeeded in other businesses. But they hadn’t organized themselves around their individual strengths. Everyone gravitated toward the job they wanted instead of asking: Who should actually be doing what?

That experience reinforced something I’ve learned repeatedly over 30-plus years of starting companies: Never pick a co-founder simply because you like them. Pick them because the two of you are stronger together than either of you is apart.

Here’s the three-step process I recommend.

Step 1: Profile yourself before you profile them

The first person you need to understand when choosing a business partner isn’t the potential co-founder. It’s you. What are you exceptionally good at? What are you mediocre at? What do you hate doing? What kind of work gives you energy?

I’m an idea guy. I love strategy, sales, relationships and figuring out where the next wave is coming from. My brother Bill is different. He understands the plumbing and wiring behind technology far better than I ever could. Early in my career, that difference became an enormous advantage. We weren’t two people with identical skills fighting over the same territory.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are the classic example. Woz had extraordinary technical ability. Jobs brought a different set of strengths. They weren’t clones. They were complements. That’s why I’m a big believer in personality profiling. You don’t need to be good at everything. You need to understand what you’re good at and surround yourself with people who are good at what you aren’t.

Write down your five biggest strengths and five biggest weaknesses. Then make a second list titled “What this business needs that I don’t bring.” That second list is the beginning of your co-founder job description.

If you’re a visionary, you may need an operator. If you’re analytical and process-driven, you may need someone who thrives on people and sales.

Step 2: Compare values before you compare equity

Different skills are an advantage. Different values can be a disaster. I learned this the hard way. I once had a business partner whose values around money and the company were fundamentally different from mine. Spending became a constant source of tension. Eventually, the differences became too great, and I had to end the partnership.

No personality profile could have fixed that, because the problem wasn’t personality. It was values. Before you agree to become co-founders, answer some uncomfortable questions:

How much money is each of you willing to risk?
When should founders start taking meaningful salaries?
If the company makes money, do you distribute it or reinvest it?
What happens if one founder works 80 hours a week and the other works 40?
If someone offers $10 million for the company, do you sell?
What lines won’t you cross to win?

Above all: What does success actually look like to you?

One founder may want to build a $10 million company, sell it and start another. The other may dream of spending 20 years building a billion-dollar company. Neither ambition is wrong, but put those two people together without discussing it and you’ve planted a bomb with a very long fuse.

Write down your answers separately, then compare them, à la “The Newlywed Game.” This is a relationship you could be in until retirement if it goes well. Take it seriously. You don’t have to agree on everything. But if you find fundamental differences around ethics, money, ambition, risk or how people should be treated, pay attention.

Skills should complement. Values should align.

Step 3: Stress-test the relationship before you sign

A co-founder relationship is a lot like a marriage with a cap table. Treat it that way. Entrepreneurs sometimes meet someone, get excited about an idea and within weeks are talking about a 50/50 split. Slow that process down. Instead, create a test.

Pick a meaningful milestone and work toward it together before making the relationship permanent. Build the prototype. Land the first 10 paying customers. Launch the first product. Try to raise the first $100,000. Make it difficult enough that something is likely to go wrong.

I want to know what someone is like when the website crashes, the biggest prospect says no, the product is late or you’re almost out of cash with payroll coming. Pressure reveals things conversation doesn’t. Watch what happens. Do they blame everyone else? Do they disappear? Can they make decisions without perfect information? Will they do boring, unglamorous work? Can you challenge each other without turning every disagreement into a personal fight?

Give the test enough time to include some bad days. Then answer one question: After seeing this person under pressure, do I want to own a company with them for the next 10 years? If you hesitate, don’t ignore it.

My three green lights

Before committing to a co-founder, I want three green lights:

Profile: Does this person bring strengths I don’t have?
Values: Are we fundamentally aligned on money, people, risk, ethics, ambition and what success means?
Pressure: Have we worked together long enough to know how each of us behaves when things go wrong?

If any of those lights is red, don’t rationalize it because the person is your roommate, college buddy, cousin or the smartest programmer you’ve ever met. Walk away from the partnership.

An uncomfortable conversation today is cheap. Having it five years from now, when you have millions in revenue, employees, investors, lawyers and both your names on the bank account, can be extraordinarily expensive.

And remember, you don’t necessarily need a co-founder. You can hire expertise, outsource functions, recruit advisers and bring in executives as the company grows. Going it alone creates problems you can solve. Choosing the wrong partner can create one that threatens the entire company.

Before you give someone half your company, profile yourself, compare your values and put the relationship under pressure. You’re not looking for somebody you’d enjoy having a beer with. You’re looking for somebody you’d still want beside you when the building is on fire.

Effective product pages help online shoppers decide whether an item fits their needs and what buying it involves. A beautiful photograph gets attention. Product details such as dimensions, available sizes, delivery details, and a clear price help turn that attention into a purchase.

Even established retailers miss these basics. In its benchmark of leading U.S. and European retailers, updated in March 2026, Baymard Institute rated 52% of desktop sites and 62% of mobile sites “mediocre or worse” for product-page usability¹.

Product-page changes can affect revenue, too. In a 27-day test for Life Pro Fitness, agency Media Contour made product images, key details, and buying buttons visible without needing to scroll. Testing vendor Wingify reported that the revised page generated $0.67 more revenue per visitor than the original².

If you are building a new store, follow the five tips below as you create your product pages. Have those pages ready before running ads that send shoppers to them.

If you already have an online store, choose one product page to improve. Reference these steps to check whether it answers shoppers’ questions and lets them add the right item to their cart.

1. Answer shoppers’ questions in the product description

Identify the main question a shopper needs answered before buying. Look for questions customers ask repeatedly or misunderstandings behind returns. For a new product, start with fit, compatibility, or what is included. Confirm the answer against your product specifications, then put it near the start of the description.

For example, consider a pet-supply retailer selling a dog harness. Someone choosing their first harness needs measurements and adjustment details to judge the fit. Someone replacing a harness they already own needs to recognize the same model and size. The page should make both tasks straightforward.

Also, use consistent labels and units across similar products to make comparisons easier. Include limitations, such as incompatible models or items sold separately, so shoppers can rule out an unsuitable purchase.

In e-commerce platform BigCommerce, for instance, online sellers can use the product description and custom fields—additional facts such as material or compatibility—to present these details. Preview the product page to check that shoppers can find the information they need.

Then, use those same facts to help shoppers recognize the item in search results. In BigCommerce’s page title field, use the product name and a relevant detail, such as its model or material. Avoid repeating keywords or giving every product the same title.

2. Give every product image a question to answer

Plan your gallery around what someone needs to inspect. Show the whole product, a useful detail, and the product in use. For example, a lighting retailer could photograph a lamp beside a chair to show its scale and how it lights a reading space. A close-up of the switch shows how someone would operate it. Together, these images help shoppers picture using the lamp at home. Keep written dimensions available as well.

The same Baymard overview describes how shoppers use images to judge size and can struggle when photographs lack a familiar reference.

If you sell a bundle, make clear which pictured items are included. For products that need assembly or demonstration, you might even consider creating a short video. Add alt text: a short description of the useful information in an image. Screen-reader software can read that description aloud or present it in braille. Keep essential instructions available as text as well.

BigCommerce supports product images, images for variants such as different colors, and YouTube-hosted product videos. Check that your gallery presents the right item as shoppers change their selection.

3. Make choices, prices, and recurring charges clear

Keep size, color, quantity, and purchase options close to the buying button. Label them plainly, show the current selection, and make unavailable choices recognizable. If the size options fit on the screen, show them as labeled buttons, such as S, M, and L. This lets shoppers see which sizes are available without opening a menu, as the Baymard overview explains.

Place helpful links beside the choice it explains. For the dog harness, for example, consider putting a measurement guide beside the size selector so shoppers can check the fit before choosing. Keep it visible or provide a clearly labeled link that works by touch and keyboard.

In BigCommerce, online sellers can configure choices such as size and color through product variants and options. Then check that the displayed price and availability match the shopper’s selection. For multipacks, show both the pack total and the unit price. Make the full pack price easy to find so shoppers know what they will be charged.

If you offer subscriptions, let shoppers explicitly choose between a one-time purchase and a recurring order. Put the recurring charge, delivery frequency, and change or cancellation terms beside that choice so shoppers can compare the commitments before selecting. Confirm that these terms match how your subscription service works. Select a subscription yourself and verify that checkout shows the plan, price, and frequency you chose.

4. Make sure delivery, returns, and reviews are easy to find

A shopper who needs an item by a particular date wants to know whether it will arrive in time. Show a delivery estimate for their destination. Put a short explanation of shipping and returns near add to cart, with links to the full policies.

Show shipping fees or explain how they will be calculated. Clearly describe return windows, fees, and exclusions that matter for the item. If pickup is offered, distinguish stock at the selected location from stock elsewhere. Avoid presenting an estimate as a confirmed promise.

Also consider making reassurances that are specific to the purchase. Using the dog harness as an example again, you’d want to explain whether a shopper can exchange it if the fit is wrong and which conditions apply. That answers the practical concerns that a badge saying “Shop with Confidence” leaves unresolved. Use only promises your business can honor.

Customer reviews provide another way to assess the product. Show the review rating, text, reviewer’s display name, and date on the relevant product page. If reviews come from another service, name that service. These details help shoppers understand whose experience they are reading and how recent it is.

5. Test the path from product page to cart

Shoppers need to know that the page has registered their choices and whether adding an item succeeded. Open your chosen product page on your phone. If a required option starts unselected, try adding the item before choosing it. The page should tell you what to select or explain why “Add to cart” is unavailable.

If the product has options, choose them, then change one selection. Check that the price, availability, and any option-specific images match. Add the item. While the request is processing, the page should make that clear. Once it succeeds, a confirmation or the cart itself should show what was added. If an error occurs, it should explain how to continue without losing other selections.

From there, make sure to check the item’s quantity, options, and price in the cart. If you chose a size or color, return to the product page and check whether it still shows that selection. These checks help catch a wrong selection or an uncertain result before a shopper encounters it.

Shoppers who cannot use a mouse need to select options and add products using a keyboard. To check that they can, repeat the steps above on a computer without the mouse. Use Tab to move forward between controls and Shift+Tab to move back. A visible outline or other marker should show which control you are about to use. Press Enter to activate links and Enter or Space for buttons. In a drop-down list, such as a size selector, use the arrow keys to move through the options.

Shoppers who need larger text must still be able to read product details and reach Add to cart. Use the browser’s Zoom control to enlarge the page to 200% and try the same steps again. Check for overlapping text or controls that disappear. Across all these checks, record anything that prevents choosing the product, adding it, or correcting a mistake.

Keep improving one page at a time

Clear facts and images help shoppers judge the product; clear choices, terms, and working controls help them act on that decision. Choose one issue from your review to fix first. Give priority to a problem that prevents adding the correct item to the cart. If shoppers can add the correct item, address an unanswered question that could lead someone to buy the wrong product.

Record what you changed and when. If you have sales reports, compare purchases and revenue for the product over equal periods before and after the change. Note any promotions or changes in visitor numbers that could also explain the results. Customer questions, order corrections, and return reasons can help you check whether the same misunderstanding persists.

For more examples, explore BigCommerce’s product-page guide, then apply the same review to the next product page.

¹^{Product Page UX 2026: 10 Pitfalls and Best Practices}^{(Baymard Institute)
2}^{Media Contour uses split URL testing to improve the revenue from product pages}^(Wingify)