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Ben Horowitz: Don't Pick a Cofounder Because You're Scared

By Ben Horowitz · Leadership · 1 min read

Your guts are boiling. You grab the nearest warm body as a cofounder. Horowitz says that is the number one mistake.

Key Points

Don't let anxiety drive your cofounder decision
Friendships based on business outlast businesses based on friendship
Be the Beatles, not the Monkees — authentic teams win
If you won't split equity equally, something is wrong

Friendships based on business are far more long-lasting and profitable than the reverse.

The Anxiety Grab

Horowitz: "When you're founding a company, there's a little anxiety involved. You're like, oh my God, what if this doesn't work? Your guts are boiling. You're feeling very uneasy."

Horowitz: "So there's a tendency to grab the closest cofounder you can find and say, okay, it's not just me now. That's a big mistake. You don't want to let your anxiety drive your decision. That's probably the number one most important thing."

There's a tendency to grab the closest cofounder you can find. That's a big mistake. You don't want to let your anxiety drive your decision.

Rockefeller's Rule

Horowitz: "John D. Rockefeller said something I've found very useful. He said: I have found that friendships based on business are far more long-lasting and profitable than the reverse."

Horowitz: "So just be careful about going into business with your buddies. That's generally the wrong reason to do it."

Friendships based on business are far more long-lasting and profitable than the reverse.

Beatles vs. Monkees

Horowitz: "The Beatles were guys who knew each other, respected each other, formed a band, and became one of the great bands of all time. The Monkees were literally put together by the record company. They said, you and you and you — you all look cool together, same haircuts, let's make you a band."

Horowitz: "The Monkees were actually pretty successful for a while, but there was something fundamentally inauthentic about them. You're generally better off being the Beatles than the Monkees — work with people you know, respect, and feel like you can be teammates for a long, long time."

You're generally better off being the Beatles than the Monkees.

Split It Equal, But Pick a CEO

Horowitz: "If you're not willing to equally split the company from an equity standpoint with your founders, that's probably a mistake. 90/10 splits and 75/25 splits tend to work less well than 50/50 splits."

Horowitz: "But somebody needs to be the CEO. Will I fund a company where someone's not the clear CEO? I won't. When you share command, every decision gets made twice. Everybody in the company suffers because of that."

If you're not willing to equally split the company, that's probably a mistake. But somebody needs to be the CEO.