Finding the right co-founder is crucial for starting a successful company, according to Han Stagger, a partner at White Community. In this video, he shares his thoughts on what makes a good co-founder and why it's important to choose wisely.

Having a co-founder can increase productivity, provide moral support during tough times, and offer pattern matching to success, as many successful startups in history had co-founders in their earliest stages.

The default answer is to wait for a co-founder, but there are exceptions to this rule. Single founders who have high conviction about their idea and are able to make progress on it without a co-founder, especially if they are technical, can be successful. However, it's important to keep an eye out for potential co-founders and be open to bringing them on board.

When looking for a co-founder, it is important to consider how they handle stress and whether they will be able to support you through the intense experience of building a startup. It is also important to understand their goals and values for starting a company to avoid conflicting motivations. Personal experience with the potential co-founder is crucial in determining their character and response to tough situations.

When looking for a co-founder, it is important to find someone with complementary skills to help grow the company. However, it is more important to work with someone you like and trust, and skills gaps can be filled by hiring later on. It is also important to not overly fixate on specific skills and instead focus on finding someone willing to learn and do the necessary work.

Where to Look for a Co-Founder The best place to start looking for a co-founder is among the people you already know, such as friends and colleagues. It's also a good idea to work on projects with people to get a sense of what kind of person you enjoy working with and what specific type of personality you work well with.

How to Find Co-Founders To find co-founders, make a list of people you know who would be great co-founders and ask them to grab coffee and talk about starting a company. If they say no, ask them who they would start a company with and ask for an introduction. Attend events and join online groups and communities to meet people with similar interests who might make good co-founders.

To test out if a potential co-founder is a good fit, allocate a chunk of time to work together and set a deadline to have an MVP or prototype built, or to pitch to customers. Treat it like a full-time job and accumulate as many hours as possible to determine if you want to start a company together.

When deciding on equity split, it is recommended to start with a default 50-50 allocation, assuming that nothing has been built yet and both parties will make equal contributions. Deviating from this arrangement may make sense in certain situations, but it is important to ensure that both parties are happy with the equity arrangement and will be motivated to work on the company for a long period of time. Startups are a long-term game, and decisions should be made with the long-term in mind.

When starting a company with co-founders, it is important to decide who will be the CEO. The title itself does not matter much in the early stages, but it is important for investors to see a clear leader and decision-maker. Co-founder friction can arise if two people both want to be the CEO, so it is best to start a company with someone who is indifferent to the title or willing to let the other person take on the role.

Formalizing things means incorporating a company and setting up a vesting agreement. It is important to have standard templates and documents in place, and the trigger for starting the legal cooperation is when you commit to building a company together.