Questions

When looking for a cofounder and team, is it critical that they be local, or is having team members across the nation/world feasible in today's world?

I've had 2 startups, both bootstrapped and by myself. A learn as you go type experience. I've finally landed on a new business idea that has huge potential and I'm looking to put together a serious team... There is one catch. I live in the middle of no where. Closest city is 25 minutes away with a population of 100k. Is it feasible to look for a cofounder online as well as a team?

3answers

Yes but you need to spend a fair amount of time in person so that you'll be effective together.

"Date" online for the co-founder but once you've found a likely partner, spend time together to make sure it's a good fit.


Answered 9 years ago

I will give you a kind of personal experience.
My brother flew to the U.S. 15 years ago (age 18) to meet his co-founder that he met online. They chat and talk for months before that. The decided to start the company together, and he comes to the U.S. a couple of times a year. He still lives in South America, is the CTO, manages a 50 people team. His company is doing $10M+ revenue today.

It is possible. It's not easy, but if you find the right person you want to partner with, it doesn't matter where you are. You will make it work. Don't build with people far away just because of low cost. Build with the people that share your vision and are passionate as you that this will be an incredible adventure. As that flight 15 yrs ago... what an adventure


Answered 9 years ago

It is most definitely feasible; it is always best to look at example of teams / co-founder who are doing what you want to do and the tools they are using.

Automattic and the team behind WordPress power 23% of all websites on the internet with a team of 300 mostly spread around the world:

http://automattic.com/about/

They created their own WP theme (P2-Themed) to organize the teams thoughts instead of email.

I am in the process of listening to a great podcast with the founder Matt Mullenweg where he talks about his tools and how he built the team and how they work remotely. Check it out:

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/02/09/matt-mullenweg/

Do let being remote stop you from forming an effective team.


Answered 9 years ago

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