Recently I partnered with my friends to create a company. I know partnering with friends is always very risky. But I did this because I felt they have the same work ethic as me. However, there are some signs that could be potential red flags. Right now i am the only founder but was planning to add them later. It has been already 2 months of founding a company but I felt there hasnt been any progress made. We have a meeting just once a week. I have done graphic design for the logo but they were thinking about using logo maker platform. I had no problem with that but in the end They decided to use my design. However, during previous I reminded them to think about slogan but still havent received any and its been 2-3 weeks. One day I asked them send document that is quite important for company, but they forgot about it. How should I approach this problem? Should I raise the issue with them directly and see if they grow and change. Or do you think it’s hopeless and give it up. I know they have study to do, but all of us wanted it badly, so I felt it doesn’t make excuse.
You sound like somebody with initiative who’s getting the ball rolling on their entrepreneurship journey. I’ll give you the perspective I wish somebody gave me when I was starting.
You will be an absolute pro in 10 years at the startup game if you stick with it, stay pragmatic, and most importantly learn from your mistakes. The last part is very important, there are very few paths to success that don’t involve failure. The important skill for you to learn at this stage is to fail gracefully.
You’re at the logo and slogan phase of this company, so the stakes are low. If you bring in partners that don’t work out, try to learn that quickly. If you don’t and it tanks the company, understand that your fifth or sixth company is probably the one that will really take off. And that experience you had a long time ago with those founders who couldn’t even get you a slogan on time will be the reason you choose good founders for company six.
I know this might not help you solve your current problem, but hopefully it’ll give you something to help figure out other problems.