What's your biggest mistake as a founder?

Had the wrong co-founder.

Back in my early days, I started a company with an incredibly skilled and confident developer colleague. The kind of person that would hear you but not always listen to you. Looking back, the first biggest mistake I made as a founder was not tackling this head-on right away. I allowed a dynamic to form where I'd request things, and he'd decide how to proceed. He build the game & the company never went anywhere bc we couldn't market his game bc it looked like it was designed by a (.net) developer & simply wasn't very good. The second biggest mistake I've ever made as a founder was at another startup I started with two of my best friends. We had all always respected each other, played sports together, gone on vacations together. We were tight. When it came to forming our partnership we spent months discussing who deserved what percentage of the company. Over & over again. More conversation happened than company. In the end one of the friends screwed us on the incorporation paperwork, put in place legal council & the company never went anywhere. Key take aways: -Communication must be clear & unambiguous always. If people aren't listening that needs to be addressed to get to the heart of the matter or it will create an anti-pattern in your organization that will misalign the team. Misaligned teams go no where. -Someone must be the leader. No matter how much you respect your teammates someone must take on the role of the leader CEO. Once you have a leader it is that leaders job to seek to understand the perspective of everyone on the team enough to help keep everyone motivated, focused, & aligned. -Set expectations & always give a clear sense of what you expect from a relationship & what success looks like as well as failure. Discuss it in the beginning as a theoretical exercise - this way when things start to go in that direction you'll still both be able to look each other in the eye & understand why you have to part ways or why the other believes they're entitled to what they're asking for. -Always read the fine print, always require seeing the paperwork, incorporations, etc are all public to the partners of a company. Operate with transparency. -Run toward conflict. Don't shy away from it. Meet it head on with a cool head. The cool head is key though, don't react emotionally. Run toward confrontation with a cool head & first try to understand the root of the other persons view, ensure they understand your perspective & how it relates to the bigger picture. If you can't find resolution, take a weekend off to think about it. If you still can't find resolution, part ways. It will be better in the end if you can part ways amicably.

my biggest misstep was underestimating the importance of a solid team culture; I focused so much on product development and customer acquisition that I overlooked the necessity of building a cohesive, motivated, and happy team, but learned that this foundation is critical for sustainable growth and success.