Podcast highlights:
09:20 Gustavo shares a true story about ageism in the start up industry in Asia where older founders over 50 cannot gain investors without having younger co-founders17:20 Dennis and Gustavo share their thoughts on having co-founders and the importance of finding the right co-founder37:30 Three is the magic number- a collaboration of three co-founders (the hustler, the hacker and the hipster) are what investors are looking forPodcast notes:
00:05 STA3 - The Start with Dennis Poh and Gustavo Liu, hosted by Graham Brown01:20 Dennis and Gustavo take a guess at the average age of a start up founder04:23 A MIT survey found that the average age of start up founders who started a high growth company is 45 years old06:35 Why do we have this misconception that start up founders are young guys in shorts and sandals?09:20 Gustavo shares a true story about ageism in the start up industry in Asia where older founders over 50 cannot gain investors without having younger co-founders11:48 The risks of investing in a younger start up founder who has nothing to lose vs the risks of investing in a more experienced, older founder15:15 Using Dave Duffield as an example who started his first business in his 40s, Gustavo offers his views on the 'sweet spot' in terms of age17:20 Dennis and Gustavo share their thoughts on having co-founders and the importance of finding the right co-founder21:21 Finding the right co-founder is like casually dating to find out what you like before committing23:58 Gustavo's tips for starting a business with friends, from reestablishing the relationship to having the legal aspects put in place26:57 Going alone vs being in a partnership, when does it make sense to run a business solo?30:25 A collaboration between co-founders is like a marriage, including the difficult conversations on leveraging each other's strengths33:52 Gustavo shares a story on how he had to advise a founder to fire his unproductive co-founder and offers advice on how to do so, for example by having a moderator37:30 Three is the magic number- a collaboration of three co-founders (the hustler, the hacker and the hipster) are what investors are looking for39:10 The imbalance in the roles between different co-founders where one person does more than the other and the importance of delegating tasks41:13 Gustavo's advice on delegating effectively, have expectations put in place and look at each other's strengths and workloads44:04 Graham's perspective on the feeling of being 'stuck' in decision making because of a co-founder46:22 The money and equity aspect of having a co-founder and how you have to be comfortable letting your co-founder wear the pants in the relationship
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