This document provides advice on co-founders and building a team for a startup. Some key points covered include: - Having a co-founder can help divide responsibilities and provide necessary skills, but founders must have aligned values and make the company's success the top priority. - It's important to formalize the co-founder relationship through legal agreements and clarify equity splits upfront. - When hiring a team, focus on cultural fit over experience and be willing to fire people if needed. Define values and policies to scale the culture. - Hiring is challenging and will take time to master - the quality of hires will define the company's outcomes. Case studies of successful hires at Price

1. FOUNDER KA CO
ALL THINGS CO-FOUNDER!

2. O JI AAP KON?
QUICK BACKGROUND

3. TEXT

4. BRAG

5. KYON BHAI?
WHY I AM GIVING THIS TALK
▸ To help you WIN
▸ Paying it forward (in fact back!)
▸ I <3 companies that build a great culture. Think Apple.
Google.

6. FIND YOUR OWN REASONS BUT DON’T FORCE A CO-FOUNDER
WHY CO-FOUNDER
▸ Ek Akela. Kitna Karega (1+1 = 11)
▸ Law of nature, you can only be good at so many things
▸ Startup are hard. Depressing. Why do it alone?
▸ In times of super growth, dividing responsibilities is necessary. Having co-owners
helps.
▸ You can’t motivate the best of people without them having a real ownership in
the business.
▸ You are building a COMPANY. Not a LaLa company
▸ Pls value professional setup, accountability & governance
▸ Refer: The High Performance Entrepreneur - Subroto Bagchi

7. LO AAJ KEH DIYA, NOT HAVING A CO-FOUNDER IS OK
WHY NOT A CO-FOUNDER
▸ As a checklist for investors
▸ Many investors do have a thesis of having more than
one Fo, but that is no reason to get a Co-Fo
▸ For getting rid of unsexy / boring work.
▸ Your Co-Fo isn’t the guy who will do all the work while
you chill, attend events & raise/spend cash. Get your
hands dirty!

9. EVERYONE WANTS A TECH CO-FOUNDER
MYSTERY OF A TECH CO-FOUNDER
▸ You need a partner in wins and losses, not a coder
▸ So being able to handle tech is an addition to other
founder skills
▸ A lot of newbies are offered a CTO / co-founder positions
in startups because it is tough to find tech talent. DON’T
DO THIS
▸ Distinguish if someone is a good techie to be on your
team or a Co-founder

10. SELL YOUR PRODUCT - NOT YOUR SOUL
NON NEGOTIABLE
▸ Values match
▸ Transparency
▸ Make the company win above everything else
▸ Contribute to each others growth
▸ Contradict / fight each other

11. OH TH PAPAR WORK
LEGALITIES & COMMON MISTAKES
▸ Committing equity In % and not numbers
▸ Delaying the conversation on equity split
▸ Not vesting
▸ Not having clarity of purpose, alignment to a goal
▸ *Founders agreement?
▸ Delaying legal work / paper work / formalising

12. FOUNDER RULES
MAKING LIFE EASY
▸ Have mentors who are common & neutral
▸ Cc / Bcc founders on important emails
▸ Even as roles differ, work piles on - Take time to sync on
progress, meetings, internal challenges, people issues
▸ Learn from each other & figure where you can replace
each other (eg: geographical expansion, branch office,
campus hiring, investor meetings etc)

13. DISCLAIMER: I HAVE LIMITED EXPERIENCE ON THIS
HOW INVESTORS LOOK AT THIS
▸ Is my investment safe in absence of any one founder?
▸ Is this a duo (or trio …) who can build a team around them
and achieve the goals?
▸ Do they collectively have the necessary skills to take this
off the ground?
▸ Given the equity split - would the founders have enough
skin in the game after a Series A / B?

14. EVERYONE SAYS TEAM IS EVERYTHING, LET’S UNDERSTAND WHY
BUILDING A TEAM & CULTURE
▸ Defined Values
▸ Don’t compromise on cultural fit
▸ Make it scalable - Each additional member should take it
forward in your absence
▸ Fire soon. Please
▸ Policies. Uff.
▸ Performance culture

15. IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE TO HIRE
SMART PEOPLE AND TELL THEM WHAT
TO DO; WE HIRE SMART PEOPLE SO THEY
CAN TELL US WHAT TO DO.
- SJ
Reality can be more nuanced than this. but do remember this.
don't hire people who will fit into your way of things. You need
misfits who will challenge you. I purposely contradict my team and
let them practice how to challenge and argue with me.

16. KYA KARE KYA NA KARE
THE KOSCHENS
▸ Should you give ESOPs to save on salary?
▸ Co-founder or core team?
▸ Consultants? Outsource?
▸ Setting KPIs / KRAs. Uff
▸ HR Techniques:
▸ Separate yourself from company
▸ Rules are for everyone
▸ A good HR / Finance will be a crucial hires

17. THE GROUND REALITY
CHALLENGES AS THE TEAM / COMPANY GROWS
▸ Communication gaps
▸ Hiring for experience
▸ People do leave & it can be heartbreaking
▸ Letting go is tough & going ahead your managers need to
do that. Empower them
▸ You will need to learn how to manage culture, friendship &
business. But Leadership = Intent.

18. INTAKE DEFINES OUTCOME
HIRING IS EVERYTHING
▸ Hiring will take time to master. Don’t assume you are good
at it. Don’t assume it will be any easy for you. Everyone
struggles.
▸ Story 1: G
▸ Story 2: At Pricebaba
▸ Don’t Hire Family

19. PRICEBABA KE PYAARE LOG
CASE STUDIES
▸ Shivam
▸ Maria
▸ Nishit
▸ Rohan
▸ Dhruv
▸ Bhumil
▸ Keyur

20. RAM BAAN
ONE VERSION

21. NIRVANA
THE FORMULA
▸ Hire great people
▸ Define the problem very well
▸ Get out of their way!

22. POSTCARDS FROM PRICEBABA.COM <3

32. MOST IMPORTANTLY
AT THE END
DHANDHA MATTERS.
MAKE MONEY. PLEASE.
@ANNKUR