How To Work With Friends Without Screwing Each Other Over

A few things to ask yourself before asking a friend to officially work with you:

  • How do your strengths complement each other and how would you split up responsibilities?

  • Do they have a similar capacity to contribute? Whether that is with time or money; if you are thinking about entering into an equal partnership there needs to be equal contribution

  • Are you on the same page in terms of your long term goal? For example, one partner can’t be building a business with the goal of selling and the other not

  • Can you have hard and brutally honest conversations with this friend?

  • Can you compartmentalize them as a friend and as someone you work with? Sometimes the one you work with pisses you off as a friend

If you decide to work with friends:

  • Sign a GD contract!

  • Document everything (responsibilities, process, etc.)

  • Make sure you make time to still just be friends (I.e. not talk about work)

Tayler Cusick Hollman