I have heard a lot of discussion lately among the young entrepreneur/techie crowd (Mostly on news.ycombinator.com) about the difficulty of finding a co-founder, but is finding skilled and like-minded people really that hard to do? I would argue that it comes down to how good you are at networking. Networking is all about relationships and good relationships involve communication and take time to develop. At Startup School last year there was a quote I thought was right on, “Q: Where do you find cofounders? A: That is akin to where can I find a wife that I can have a kid with right away?” In order to find the people you will start your company with. Finding co-founders is a relationship building process.
When was the last time you took someone out for coffee and talked to them about what they were working on? Do you follow up with the people you meet and maintain relationships. Do you know how to network? For anyone out there struggling to find meaningful relationships in business I highly recommend reading Keith Ferrazzi’s book Never Eat Alone, maybe building meaningful relationships in business isn’t as hard as you think, you may just need a new strategy.
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