🎙️ Startup Lessons from Co-Founders turned Life Partners 💕
New Podcast Episode! Takeaways and team exercises from this co-founder pair turned married couple! ✨
For those of you familiar with my work, you’ll know I specialize in applying principles from couples counseling to co-founding teams. Curious about how this application holds up? Tune in as I interview a co-founding pair turned married couple on this week’s episode of How I Met My Co-Founder.
Meet Alana and Jason, co-founders of How to Change the World, a social enterprise equipping students with the skills and mindsets to build more sustainable future. The two serendipitously met at a cooking class in London, met up for a (professional?) coffee a few days later, joined forces as co-founders, and, prompted by a third co-founder at the time, decided to listen to their hearts and start dating.
Listen, watch, read (or keep scrolling) to hear their (love) story. Know someone considering dating their co-founder, or starting a company with a spouse? Forward along!
BONUS: Inspired by our conversation, I’ve published two conversation guides to: (1) uncover your team's values, and (2) discover your co-founder's life priorities.
Summary of My Conversation with Jason & Alana
Full blog post can be found here.
In our conversation, we discuss:
• The First Meeting: Professional or Romantic?
• Tensions between Spouse vs CXO Role
• Putting Values to the Test in Times of Crisis
• Not Shying Away from Contingency Planning
• The Pie Chart Model to Life Priorities
Some takeaways:
“You can have it all, but probably not all at the same time” - Alana. Instead of striving for work-life balance, view life as a single pie chart where priorities may shift over time. Make sure your business and life partners know your short- and long-term priorities. (Resource: The Pie Chart Model - Life Priorities)
Shared Values as Your North Star: Values are tested during challenging periods, such as personal crises or startup uncertainties. Spend time up front to determine your partnership’s shared values (Resource: Uncover Your Co-Founder’s Values) "Talk about values, make that a foundational part of your first conversations." - Jason
What Happens When the Role of a Co-Founder and Spouse are in Tension? When wearing multiple hats (e.g., co-founder and spouse), discuss with yoru partner which you are going to prioritize. “Family first means the wife hat goes on first. And if that means the COO always has to figure it out, then she will.” - Alana
Discuss Contingency Plans: Have open discussions about potential future scenarios, including changes in roles or exits from the company, to ensure alignment and preparedness. “If I haven't made myself redundant in five to six years, then I really haven't been doing my job very well as a founding CEO” - Jason
Great Couples Don’t Always Make Good Co-Founders, and Vice Versa: Reflect on *your* ideal partnership both personally and professionally. Do you like to have to share work and life with the same people? Do you prefer to have more of a separation? The right answer is the one that is right for you.
Are you a founder, investor, or ecosystem partner curious about founding team dynamics?