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.
ask them what they believe is reasonable commitment and what they expect as compensation. ask them how they feel partnering will match with their aspirations. - you’ll likely get a feel for how serious they are from their responses.
don’t do anything related to pay or equity until you see proof of their commitment - make sure the reward is proportional to their contribution. with equity, 1 year cliff 4 year vesting is typical.
in your specific case, seems like your friend isn’t particularly committed, either they dont know how they should be involved, they under estimated your expectations and the level of commitment needed, or they aren’t particularly serious.
ultimately, if they haven’t contributed, then you should cut your losses and move faster.