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Founders: live with cofounders or not?

8 points by OpenWebU ↗ HN
Here's the situation: I have an extra room at my home. A developer I have been working with overseas is now excited about the idea, and is willing to fly here and live in the extra room to accelerate the project. We're doing ok in our current working relationship - he's consulting to pay his bills -- my stuff is 2nd or 3rd priority -- things are getting done but slowly. He knows about my boyfriend, and my boyfriend knows him. So, here's the question: is living with cofounders a good idea or not? One friend says, do it - it would accelerate the project. Another friend says don't - it would make things personal and make it difficult to make business decisions. I'd like to hear about others'opinions on this - thanks.

16 comments

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donw
I would vote for 'no'; you will spend so much time around each other, with no way to really separate your own spaces, that it will make you sick and reclusive. If anything goes south, you then have more than just a business that dies -- you have to deal with tenants, and there's likely additional legal ramifications as well.
rksprst
I would also say "no" for similar reasons. Your project is not his first priority and I doubt that will change once he moves into your apartment. I think that having cofounders living together is great if you guys are a couple or have been best friends since elementary school. Otherwise though, I can only see problems from this arrangement.

If he wants to move to your city then let him, than you can have weekly meetings at starbucks or something. But I'd not recommend living with a random developer that is your cofounder just because you have an extra room. Again, I can only see problems arising from this (both professional and personal).

I'd be curious to hear what you decide to do. Let us know.

amrithk
It depends. A few months ago, my current room-mate had an idea for a startup. We decided to move in together as it would be easier to brainstorm ideas, code, and plan what we needed to do. Both of us have full-time day-jobs and we work on week-nights and week-ends on our idea.

We have been pretty good so far in seperating work from our personal activities. We both make sacrifices to move our project forward. At the same time however, we don't interfere with each other's personal issues and activities. It takes some time to have a good arrangement and the best thing to do would be to communicate your expectations to the developer, and also listen to what he wants in terms of a working relationships. Lastly, I would recommend doing social things together with your developer. For example, you could have dinners with your developer and boyfriend. Such activities strengthen the working relationship and inspire everyone to continue working on the project.

rksprst
If she was good friends with the developer then I would agree with you, but from what I could tell from her post, the developer is not a friend but someone she probably met and hired online. In that case, I would definitely say no to moving in together.
rglullis
I hope I won't be misunderstood, but I wouldn't be so sure to call the poster a "she". There is nothing in the post that guarantees that the poster is female. Is there?
ardit33
True. I learnt this in my second week in SF. At my first salsa lesson, we split in two lines, between "leaders" and "followers", to match up, and I see this guy in front of me. Me: You are in the wrong line Him: No, I am not. I hope it is ok with you

umm...... ok, sure.... it was kinda awkward,

a-priori
This is getting off-topic, but...

A couple years ago my girlfriend and I took swing dancing lessons. Although I normally led, for one of the exercises everyone switched roles; I learnt to follow, and she learnt to lead. That was probably the single most helpful exercise of that class.

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rksprst
You're right. I just assumed that if it wasn't a girl, I would be corrected. But you're right, I should err on the side of caution.
attack
I've been there and it worked great. That was for same gender and while single though.

So, depends. No pressure either way.

lux
Ultimately, how much are you willing to sacrifice for the project? That includes sanity ;) Shared living can make things difficult, but if it's needed to give your project the extra boost it needs, it may make sense to try. At least living in the same city so you can meet regularly really helps, since there's nothing like face to face sometimes for quick idea exchange.

Ground rules, respect for each others' privacy, and talking all that out up front seems to be the best approach if you're going to room together, so you're not making assumptions about who will do what and when. My current roommates are the messiest I've ever lived with, and since I work from home that makes it a really hard work environment. They have to be told to do even the most basic things or they won't do them. Fortunately, I'm moving June 1st.

I was actually talking with my business partner about becoming roommates, but we're still on the fence about it. The place has to afford enough privacy and space separation that our respective messiness won't drive the other one crazy...

So I couldn't give a definite yes or no, but do exercise caution and plan accordingly :)

Flemlord
The most important thing is to be in the same room during the day when you're working on your company. Ideally, you would live in separate residences but meet in your house during the workday. But if living together is the only way to make it happen, you should do it.
mkull
The first 6 months of my startup the 3 founders lived together , and worked from the same (large) apartment. I would say that was a keystone in us being able to put in the 24/7 focus/communication/time necessary to get it off the ground.
pxlpshr
For a time, 4 of us live together and work from a house our investor owned in bel-air. The year is coming to a close and I must say, it was both worthwhile for the company and a blast as a personal experience. Felt like 3 years crammed into 1...

Make sure to give each other personal space... and be very tolerant of each other's annoyances, cause you have them too. :)

OpenWebU
Hey, thanks for the advice. I got one email from someone who recognized me who said, "Are you on crack cocaine?" but he's a lawyer.

Including my friends' votes, the tally is 7 Positives and 5 Negatives. The developer is from Europe, so the longest he can stay here on a travel visa is 3 months for education and training purposes. And, by law, I can't pay him.

According to several people, I need a technical cofounder. The startup is a risk, time is money - and I have a solid working relationship with this guy. His willingness to come out here from Europe is a huge vote of confidence, so I'm veering towards yes.

I appreciate everyone's stories suggestions for the kinds of details that need to be worked out. If for some reason things go south, I'll repost here with lessons learned. Thanks again for the input.