Cofounder Real Estate

Taking "a blueprint for success" a little too literally

INTRO

Hey, I’m Tim! ☕

Paul Graham, cofounder of YCombinator, has written some of the most influential essays in startup history.

In 2009, he wrote a gem of a line about cofounders that I first want to admire, appreciate, and agree with, and then pull it apart, scrutinize, and disagree with it.

And if you don’t want to find gems 15 years later, check out Confluence VC (I’m personally subscribed to them):

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DEEP DIVE

“Metaphors and analogies are the poetry of reasoning." — Unknown

Cofounder Coordinates

The line: “Cofounders are for startups what location is for real estate.”

Banger.

It’s so good. So succinct. So poignant. It’s one of those lines that makes me, as a writer, think ‘wow I wish I’d written that’.

As the saying goes, the three most important factors in real estate are location, location, and location. You can change everything about a house except where it is.

Similarly, you can change your idea, product, marketing campaign, pricing strategy, tech stack — and you likely will.

Sure, you can technically change cofounders, just as you can technically move a house. But is it still the same company/house?

The line just seems so perfect written. It captures the essence of cofounders/location. It’s the starting point. Plus, my degree is in real estate and my career has been in startups so it feels like the perfect analogy for me.

Wait a minute. On second thought, the metaphor doesn’t stretch that far.

Fresh Renovation

You can improve your relationship with your cofounders but a house can’t improve its relationship with its location. The neighborhood may evolve, possibly even because of the house, but the coordinates remain the same.

However, unlike location, cofounderships are dynamic. That’s what Cherrytree is all about.

I’m not here to bash PG. He’s a personal hero. For the most part, his observation is accurate — cofounders are fundamental to your startup the way location is for real estate.

There’s too much material about improving cofounder dynamics for one edition. Here’s some reading on common topics to get you started.

I couldn’t just leave myself you like this though. I couldn’t leave you hanging with a half-accurate analogy.

So I’ll give you the best version of the analogy I could come up with. But before I do, here’s the one I almost went with.

I thought “cofounders are to startups what musicians are to bands.” It clicked! Others may play the same song, but they’re not the same band; the same people can play different songs, even with different instruments, but they’re still the same band.

And then I realized it’s a cyclical analogy. Musicians are the cofounders of the band.

How about this: Cofounders are to startups what tracks are to trains.

  1. They set the direction.

  2. They also dictate the speed limit and braking. Not only that, they influence stability, load distribution, and in some cases, they even supply power.

  3. Their relationship can also improved through regular maintenance, upkeep, and upgrades.

  4. If they’re not aligned — disaster.

Ok, that’s not perfect either. You might have more than 2 cofounders. The whole static/dynamic situation is still muddy. Cofounders are more diverse than tracks.

Back to the real estate analogy. Cofounders are to startups what frameworks are to houses.

They’re the skeleton on which everything else is built. They provide guidance for how all the other elements are interconnected. They require regular inspection. They support not only the current structure but also future expansions and renovations.

I’m sticking with that unless you got a better one.

LAST LOOK

If you want more personalized advice, book some time with me here.

Missed a Cherrytree edition? Grab a coffee and hit the archive to get all caught up.

Thanks!

Tim He
Founder & CEO