Key points
- A study of 816 US founding teams found that teams form mostly around similarity (gender, ethnicity, occupation) and around strong ties such as family and friends (Ruef, Aldrich and Carter, 2003).
- Y Combinator's free co-founder matching platform reports more than 100,000 matches made (Y Combinator).
- In a study of more than 21,000 startups, companies with three or more founders were more than twice as likely to succeed (be acquired or go public) as solo-founded ones (UNSW Sydney, 2023). It's a correlation, not a guarantee.
- In a Brazilian study of 221 startups, being in an accelerator, incubator or technology park went with a 3.45 times lower chance of closing than a private or rented office (Baguete, on the Fundação Dom Cabral study, 2014).
Tomás and his group chat
Tomás is 29 and writes backend code for a payments company. For a year he has been building, at night, a stock-control app for small bakeries. It works. Two bakeries use it for free. Nobody pays yet, because Tomás has never asked anyone for money.
He decides he needs a co-founder and opens his group chat. Everyone in it is a developer he studied with. Three of them say they'd love to help with the code. Nobody offers to call a bakery.
Tomás isn't a real person, but his group chat is how many founding teams start: with people just like us. Here is what research says about finding a co-founder, and how Tomás found someone who covered what he didn't.
What the research says
US founding teams studied. Similarity and strong ties (family, friends, former coworkers) had the biggest effect on who teamed up.
Ruef, Aldrich and Carter, 2003more likely to succeed: startups with three or more founders, compared with solo founders, in a study of 21,000+ startups.
UNSW Sydney, 2023matches made on Y Combinator's co-founder matching platform, which is free to use.
Y CombinatorMost of us look for a partner in the mirror. It's natural, and it's also why so many founding teams share the same blind spot.
Why we tend to pick a copy of ourselves
Most of us gravitate to people like us. In a representative sample of 816 US founding teams, similarity in gender, ethnicity and occupation, plus existing strong ties, had the most pronounced effect on who started a company with whom (Ruef, Aldrich and Carter, 2003).
Noam Wasserman, whose book draws on data from almost 10,000 founders, describes founding with friends and relatives as easy at the start and harder later, when roles and money need hard conversations (Wasserman, The Founder's Dilemmas).
That is why many founding teams end up with two product people and no one who likes selling, or two big-picture thinkers and no one who closes the loop. Similar people are easy to talk to. They also tend to share the same gaps. The aim isn't to find someone different for the sake of it. It's to find someone who covers what you don't, and who wants the same outcome you do.
Where to look
| Where | Why it helps | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Former colleagues | You have already seen how they work under real deadlines | Being colleagues isn't the same as being equals; talk about roles early |
| Co-founder matching platforms, such as Y Combinator Co-Founder Matching | Many people actively looking, with profiles on skills and goals | A profile is a start, not a test drive; plan a trial project |
| Accelerators and startup programs | Founders, mentors and alumni in one place; many run founder events | Some programs expect a team before you apply |
| Hackathons and startup weekends | You build something in days and see how someone handles pressure | One weekend shows energy, less so long-term reliability |
| Open source and online communities | You can read someone's actual work and how they take feedback | Agree on time zones and expectations |
| Your industry | People who know the customer's problem first-hand | Check they want to build a company, not just advise |
| Friends | Trust is already there | Friendship tends to make hard conversations harder later |
Find a co-founder in five steps
Searching works better when you know what you're searching for. Start with yourself, end with a real project together.
1. Write down what you're good at
Name what you do well and enjoy: building product, selling, running operations, handling money.
Tomás: building the product. He is fast and careful with code.
2. List what you avoid
The tasks you put off are a good map of what a co-founder could own.
Tomás: calling strangers, pricing, and anything that sounds like a sales pitch.
3. Name how you work
Do you decide fast or slowly? Prefer structure or open space? Recharge alone or with people?
Tomás: slow, careful decisions; he recharges alone and goes quiet under pressure.
4. Go where you can see people work
Pick two places from the table above and show up regularly for a couple of months.
Tomás: a local startup weekend, and asking former colleagues for introductions. That's how he met Dani, who ran customer success at his old company.
5. Run a trial project
Work together on something real for a few weeks before you split equity.
Tomás: Dani called 20 bakeries in six weeks. Four agreed to pay. Then they had the hard conversation about roles and money.
How to tell if someone complements you
Look for someone whose answers differ from yours on skills and working style, but match on what you want the company to become.
| Match on | Differ on |
|---|---|
| Values: how you treat customers, team and money | Skills: what each of you can build or sell |
| Ambition: size of company, timeline, appetite for risk | Working style: pace, structure, how you handle detail |
| Commitment: hours and months without a salary | Network: who each of you can reach |
Personality is one way to see the "working style" column. Research on founders finds no single founder type: a study of more than 21,000 startups identified six different ones (McCarthy et al., 2023). In Tipolu's five types, a Peak tends to push for decisions and speed, a Horizon tends to bring new ideas, a Campfire tends to build trust and team culture, a River tends to stay steady when things get tense, and a Root tends to bring order and follow-through. Two Horizons will have plenty of ideas; a Horizon and a Root are more likely to ship one.
How each type tends to search
Peak: Tends to pick fast. Spend a few weeks on a trial project before you decide.
Horizon: Tends to look for someone as excited about the idea as you. Look for someone who likes finishing things.
Campfire: Tends to start with friends. Have the same hard talk you'd have with a stranger.
River: Tends to wait for the perfect match. Book one founder event this month.
Root: Tends to want a full checklist first. Leave room for someone who works very differently.
If Tomás took the test
Horizonwith a River accentA Horizon with a River accent fits Tomás's story: lots of ideas, calm, happy to build alone at night, and not drawn to selling. His group chat was full of people like him. Dani, who leaned Campfire with a Peak accent in this story, liked the calls he avoided. That difference is the point.
Tomás's scores are made up to show what a result looks like.
This is for understanding yourselves and each other, not a filter. Don't turn down a good partner because of a type label, and don't pick one because of it. Once you have someone, run the co-founder compatibility questions together. If you end up with a team of three, check which type your founding team is missing.
Lu's tip: Bring something concrete when you meet possible co-founders: a working prototype, customer interviews or a first sale. It shows what you add.
Questions people ask
How do I find a technical co-founder if I'm not technical?
Go where engineers spend time: hackathons, open source projects, developer meetups and co-founder matching platforms. Bring something concrete, such as customer interviews or early sales, so they can see what you add.
Should my co-founder be like me?
Like you in values and ambition, different in skills and working style. Teams built only on similarity tend to share the same gaps.
How long does it take to find a co-founder?
It varies a lot. Many founders spend months meeting people and doing trial projects before they commit, and that time is usually well spent.
Is it better to found alone?
Not necessarily. In one large study, startups with three or more founders were more than twice as likely to succeed as solo ones, but that's a correlation. A co-founder makes sense when they cover skills you lack and want the same outcome.
Should I start a company with a friend?
You can, if you have the same conversation about roles, money and exit that you'd have with a stranger. Friendship makes the start easy and the hard talks harder, so have them early.
Are co-founder matching platforms worth it?
They help you meet many people who are actively looking. Treat a match as a first coffee, not a decision, and plan a few weeks of real work together before you split anything.
Sources
- Ruef, M., Aldrich, H. E., and Carter, N. M. (2003). The structure of founding teams: Homophily, strong ties, and isolation among U.S. entrepreneurs. American Sociological Review, 68(2), 195 to 222.
- Wasserman, N. (2012). The Founder's Dilemmas. Princeton University Press.
- Y Combinator. Co-Founder Matching.
- McCarthy, P. X., Gong, X., Braesemann, F., Stephany, F., Rizoiu, M.-A., and Kern, M. L. (2023). The impact of founder personalities on startup success. Scientific Reports, 13. Summary: UNSW Sydney newsroom, October 2023.
- Fundação Dom Cabral (2014), study of 221 Brazilian startups, reported by Baguete (in Portuguese).
You walk a trail instead of filling a form
Tipolu is a short 3D walk. At each crossroads you pick the path you'd really take, and the companion walking with you at the end shows who you are.
12 to 20 crossroadsEveryday choices on a trail, like a market, a lake, a broken well.
Two campfire questionsShort open answers in your own words.
Your mix, not a boxA main type, an accent, and 0 to 100 scores on five traits, with a report that includes work.
Try three crossroads from the real walk
Pick the path you would really take. No right answers.
The ferry crew is one hand short. The cargo must cross by sundown, and the old ferryman knows every current.
A family of travelers asks to walk with your group through the forest.
Two companions disagree on which ford to use. Each has a good reason.
Three forks are a guess. The full walk uses 12 to 20 of them plus two campfire questions, and shows your main type, your accent and what that means for work.
Play the free test · 5 min
Which one is walking with you?
Find out how you tend to work before you pick your next path. A short walk, 12 to 20 crossroads, and a report that includes work.
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