The Co-Founder Conversations You Need To Have Before You Incorporate
Equity, vesting, roles, money and the exit nobody wants to picture: the five talks that decide whether a founding team survives its first real disagreement.
The Founders Desk
Editorial Staff
The Founders Desk covers the craft and the life of being a founder: co-founder relationships, operating practices, solo founders and family businesses, and Founder Insider's profiles of the people building companies. Reporting under this byline is produced by the editorial staff of Founder Insider.
Articles by The Founders Desk
How Founders Build A Public Reputation Journalists Can Actually Verify
Reporters, investors and search engines all check the same things before they trust a founder. Here is how to make sure those checks come back clean.
When A Founder Should Stop Being The CEO, And How To Hand Over Well
The signals that a company has outgrown its founder in the top job, the roles founders move into, and the mechanics of a transition that does not wreck morale.
Before You Build A Startup On The Side, Reread Your Employment Agreement
The invention assignment clause you signed on your first day may decide who owns your side project. Here is what to look for and how to protect yourself.
How To Pick A Company Name You Can Actually Own And Protect
A state filing, a domain and a trademark are three different things. Founders who confuse them often end up renaming the business after they have built a brand.
The Monthly Investor Update That Gets Read, And Gets Answered
A plain, consistent update is one of the cheapest tools a founder has. Here is a structure that builds trust and turns passive investors into useful ones.
How Founders Should Run A Board Meeting That Actually Decides Things
A good startup board meeting is built in the week before it happens. The pre-read, the agenda, the minutes and the closed session all have jobs to do.
The Solo Founder's Continuity File: What Happens If You Can't Work Tomorrow
When one person holds every password, signature and relationship, a single illness can stop the business. A continuity file keeps it running without you.
How Solo Founders Can Run A Company Alone Without Deciding Everything Alone
A co-founder is partly a second brain. Solo founders can build substitutes: advisers, peer groups, decision records and early hires who are allowed to disagree.
Family Business Succession Starts A Decade Before The Handover
Ownership, leadership and family harmony are three separate problems. The families that hand over well plan each one deliberately and early.
The Rules Every Family Business Needs Before Hiring A Relative
Hiring family can build loyalty or quietly poison a workplace. Written rules on roles, pay, reporting and exits make the difference, along with the payroll tax details.