Definition of Co-Founder – In a company, of course there will be one or more people who play a role in sparking an idea to establish a business or business. Generally, we know him by the term founder or co-founder . However, for some people, the term still feels foreign to the ear. So that it’s easier for you to understand the meaning of co-founder and its duties and also how to become a co-founder , see this article until it’s finished.
Definition of Co-Founder and Founder
As we know that a founder is someone who first creates or initiates a business idea or what is known as the founder of a company. Founders are also more towards someone who first came up with the idea to open a company. Usually, a founder will look for ideas through their own minds which will then be channeled through plans, actions, strategies, to control in the field.
In contrast to the founder, the notion of a co-founder is someone who works and has a role to assist the company founder or founder in establishing the company. These co-founders can be individuals or groups of individuals who play an active role in helping the establishment of the company, be it by sharing ideas, suggestions, criticisms, and so on so that the company can achieve its goals.
In a business, a founder is allowed to have one or more people to occupy the position of co-founder . Each of these co-founders will later have different duties and responsibilities according to the skills and abilities they have.
To be able to get a co-founder that fits the company’s needs is not easy. This is because there are many companies that fail to achieve their goals due to differences in the vision and mission of their founders and co-founders .
The difference between Founders and Co-Founders
Often times, the founder is referred to as the person who first initiated an idea for a business. However, a founder may not have the skills to manage the system and also the resources used or may not have the necessary skills to be able to realize the idea.
This is where the role of the co-founder is needed, namely to fill the gaps in the founders of the company. When you become a co-founder , that means you can take responsibility for bringing the business to its goals.
Even though a co-founder is not the first person to come up with a business idea, as one of the company leaders, a co-founder also has a contribution to the initial development of a company. Being a co-founder, of course, you must have skills that will help the running of a company.
For example, such as the skills to solve a problem, have a leadership spirit, to good communication skills. That is the difference between founders and co-founders .
Co-Founder Duties and Responsibilities
As someone trusted by the company to help start and also monitor the development of a business, co-founders have various responsibilities and specific tasks in the company, including:
1. Fundraising
Not all company founders come by bringing investors to the companies they founded. However, they can help find and also raise funds to build the company. With the capabilities they have regarding the products and services offered by the company, co-founders can promote potential investors to want to invest in the company. This of course will provide benefits for co-founders to increase working capital in the company with the influx of investment from investors.
2. Assessing Risk
A co-founder will be required to be able to understand every risk that might occur and help all parts of the business to reduce the impact it causes. They can ask for professional help in certain fields to be able to help overcome this.
3. Team Building
One of the important responsibilities of a co-founder is to be able to assess and identify a person’s character that is in line with the company’s vision and mission. Those selected people will later be made part of the leadership team within the company.
A co-founder will assign tasks and responsibilities to the team, motivate and maintain their morale so that each member can do their best at their job. It is this effort that is expected to produce individuals who are committed and dedicated to the company.
4. Developing Business
Co-founders have a significant role in building partnerships that can grow the business they manage. This one step is very important for the co-founder to take so that in the future the business can continue to survive and run well.
5. Identifying Market Opportunities
The next task of a co-founder is to be able to analyze the market and identify the products needed by potential customers. Co-founders must be able to see the market with a bigger picture of what products consumers are looking for and coordinate with the team to develop the products and services they have so that they can be marketed more broadly.
6. Create Business Documents
The next task and responsibility is to make documentation of all business activities and transactions. Generally, the co-founder will work closely with auditors, lawyers and tax experts to ensure that all documents that the company needs have been prepared and arranged neatly in accordance with statutory requirements.
7. Managing Finance
Co-founders as well as other founders will actively work together to track all expenses and spend their budget wisely until the company can get a more stable flow of funds.
8. Developing Products
Often times, a co-founder has a different point of view in developing every product that the company has. This difference in assessment provides a breath of fresh air for every production process, from development, design, to the sales process. Things like that make a business able to survive and develop itself following the changes that occur in the market.
9. Recruiting the Best Employees
Recruiting the best employees is also the duty and responsibility of a co-founder . Through the right process, later the candidates to be selected are people who are in accordance with the company’s needs and budget. Therefore, the process of finding, forming a team, and also selecting it is important for a co-founder to consider .
10. Motivate
Often times, a business does not always run smoothly. Some businesses will encounter various kinds of problems, such as in terms of production, marketing processes , or difficulties in obtaining funding to develop the business. This certainly can affect motivation and enthusiasm regarding all aspects of the company.
This is where the co-founder ‘s job is to provide motivation or an injection of enthusiasm to all parts of the company so that they can regain their interest and goals in developing the business.
Reasons Why Companies Must Have Co-Founders
We can understand that setting up a company or business is not an easy matter. Not all company founders can survive various kinds of difficulties on their own. Therefore, it is important for the company to have a co-founder in it. There are several reasons why a company must have a co-founder .
1. Provide Fresh Ideas
To keep the company running according to the vision and mission that has been set, several companies regularly hold meetings with the aim of being able to share their opinions about the company.
Often times, the perspective between you and other people will definitely be different. It is these differences of opinion that can be continuously explored to find various things that are aligned with the company. Thus, new ideas will appear that are more refreshing and can have a positive impact on the company.
2. Covering Weaknesses
There are three important roles in a co-founder that are indispensable for setting up a company, including:
- Delivery person is someone who has expertise on technical matters, the company’s business, and also the environment in general that can affect the production and development of the product itself.
- Domain expert is a person’s ability to understand the audience and be able to convey the company’s vision and mission well.
- Moner person , namely the ability possessed by a person to be able to generate income and make a business investable.
3. Building a Business Together
Building a company is not as easy as we imagine. There are so many things to go through and hard decisions to make. Some of them cannot be conveyed to all members of the company.
This is the important role of co-founders in the company, which is to help deal with various things that will happen when you help a company, become a discussion partner, and find solutions for the company’s interests.
4. Can Attend Different Events at the Same Time
Not infrequently a company has a meeting schedule or is invited to a different event at the same time. By having a co-founder , you can share tasks to be able to attend these events.
5 Secrets To Becoming A Great Co-Founder
To be a great co-founder , it’s not easy. The knowledge and experience they have is not obtained in a short time, but it takes a long time to be able to instill if a co-founder .
However, there must be a way or secret to how they can become a great co-founder. Of course, you can also follow this method. Here are the secrets to being a great co-founder, including:
1. Have Various Skills
In order to become a co-founder, you need to have a lot of skills. That means, it’s not enough if you only have one skill. In some cases, startup companies choose to hire other people as co-founders . This is because they do not have one of the necessary skills.
For example, a co-founder only has the skills to develop a product, but he can’t market it. If it’s like that, like it or not the company must look for other people who have these skills. Even though that’s not wrong, if you can play various roles, then you can be said to be a great co-founder .
2. Trying to Learn Things Quickly
Entrepreneurs are very busy people, why? Because, they want to achieve certain goals that have been planned beforehand. If you want to be someone different and want to be on the executive team of a company, then you have to really study, act faster than most people, and so on.
For example, if the average person can read a 300 page book in 8 hours, then you should be able to do it in 3 to 4 hours. Why is it important? Because, it aims to train the brain so that it can adapt and learn about new things.
3. Have Mental and Emotional Strength
Running a company, both mentally and emotionally is tough. Many people think that if we are already at the top of the company hierarchy, that means we will have less work and can be lazy.
However, the reality is not like that, being a leader is the most stressful level of work. Because, every day we have to take and make decisions from small things to big things. Developing mental as well as emotional toughness is not an exact science. However, it can be done through introspection, including learning how to tolerate discomfort.
4. Build Personal Projects
Having experience in various companies and serving as a senior executive is certainly a plus for being a co-founder . However, there is one thing that can improve skills as well as experience better and that is building a personal project. Building this personal project can propel your career in the future.
Start by looking at other companies that have been successful, as well as people who can serve as inspiration and make predictions as to what will be the trend in the future.
5. Predict with the Right Timing
Have you ever wondered why some digital products such as digital cameras or smartphones are considered revolutionary even though the manufacturer was not the first to develop them?
Touchscreen phones were first developed in 1992 by IBM, but it was Apple who took the opportunity in 2007 after launching the iPhone. Meanwhile, the first digital camera was developed in 1975 by Kodak. However, in the last few decades, it has been another company that released a digital camera and toppled Kodak.
Therefore, how can a product be said to be revolutionary, that is, if a product is launched at the right time. People say, time is everything, but besides that, you also need to understand the needs and needs of the market and what many people need. Being able to predict accurately and make decisions to drive the wrong company is a must-have skill for a great co-founder .
As explained above, founders and co-founders have different roles in the company. However, both are very important aspects in realizing all plans to form a company. However, company founders often have limited capabilities. That’s where the role or duties of the co-founder are deemed necessary to fill the void with the capabilities they have.
This is an explanation of the meaning of a co-founder , the difference between it and a founder , as well as their duties and responsibilities. From the explanation above, hopefully it can add to your knowledge about the importance of co-founders in a company.