Building a startup is like playing basketball—or any other sport, for that matter. It's imperative that you love the sport and commit to playing it for as long as you can. In startups, finding and keeping the right co-founders is crucial. They set the pace for the journey from zero to one, much like choosing the right teammates for a game of basketball.

The reality is that startups rarely get funded until a minimum viable product is ready, or until they've achieved meaningful traction or milestones. To reach that point, co-founders must grind it out. Until funding arrives, they work for sweat equity alone: no pay, no salaries, and no clear vision of the future. There's only the hope that things will get better and that their plans will come to fruition.

In startups, finding and keeping the right co-founders is crucial. They set the pace for the journey from zero to one.

Before there were tournaments, there were sports. People played purely for fun and for the love of the game. On weekends or whenever time allowed, someone would invite friends to play basketball. The group would show up excited, and not a single person would ask the organizer what they'd get in return. They simply received an invite for a chance to have fun, knew they loved the game, and dove in for a great time.

You might say startups are different because they demand hard work and build up immense stress over time. But playing sports is hard work too. Physical exercise isn't easy—as evidenced by the state of public health around us. It requires commitment, endurance, blood, sweat, and tears, just like any startup. And similarly, there's no guarantee of winning the game.

The kind of co-founder you need is someone who shows up for the love of the game—exactly like those friends who gather for a casual pickup basketball match. They don’t just believe in your mission and vision; they contribute selflessly, without keeping score of personal gain.

Avoid the person who demands guarantees, equity upfront, or “conditions” before they’ll even play. That’s the player who disappears the moment the team hits a losing streak. They’ll be gone by the next game, the next season, or the next shiny opportunity that promises an easier win. By all means, you can still have that person on your roster if they’re exceptionally talented and deliver results—but only as an employee, never as a co-founder. You’d be foolish to expect them to stay when the going gets tough.

That’s the fundamental difference between co-founders and employees.

Employees can be hired once you have funding and can pay market salaries. Right now, at the earliest stage—when there’s little or no money, only sweat equity and shared risk—your single most important decision is choosing the right co-founder: someone who’s willing to take the leap with you, fully understanding that sharing the upside also means sharing the losses, the grind, and the long nights with no guarantee of victory.

When Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia launched Airbnb in 2008—soon joined by third co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk—they encountered repeated investor rejections and severe financial hardships. To keep the fledgling company afloat amid minimal revenue (around $200 per week, split among the trio), they accumulated substantial personal credit card debt: Chesky owed about $25,000, while Gebbia racked up tens of thousands more.

Desperate for funds, they turned to creative short-term solutions, such as designing and selling limited-edition cereal boxes themed around the 2008 presidential election (Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's), which netted them roughly $30,000. During this period, the founders weren't paying themselves salaries or receiving any benefits, instead surviving on sheer grit while the business teetered on the edge.

Their readiness to shoulder tens of thousands in credit card debt to sustain a low-revenue startup exemplifies true co-founder commitment—they were fully invested in the "game," prepared for the long haul without guarantees. It wasn't until early 2009 that they secured their first formal funding by joining Y Combinator, a renowned startup accelerator, which provided $20,000, followed by a seed round later that year.

An employee mindset—prioritizing security over shared risk—likely wouldn't have built an iconic company like Airbnb, which has since expanded globally, with millions of listings in over 220 countries and regions.

When someone invites you to join their startup, think it through; but when you do decide to continue, do it with the courage and vigor that the starting five show at the first jump ball. Come in hot, push yourself to the limit, and understand that the reward is not after every game but at the end of the season, when only one team reigns supreme. The ball is round; anything could happen, but you are ready to execute day to day what you've got to do to reach the championships.

In a startup, just like in any team sport, no one benefits until everyone gives their all. A single person can derail the forward momentum that everyone's contributing to when they selfishly put themselves at the center of it with demands that outsize the realities of incubating a nascent company.

With limited to no resources at the beginning of an entrepreneurial journey, it is hard to keep the team intact. It becomes all the more imperative that seeking out co-founders must be a carefully thought-out endeavor. Not everyone is built for it. Not everyone understands it. Not everyone truly wants it. There are people who crave the adrenaline rush in it; but that alone isn't enough. You need competence, skills, inner drive, and a genius for building something out of nothing.

Building a startup is like playing basketball—or any other sport, for that matter. It's imperative that you love the sport and commit to playing it for as long as you can. In startups, finding and keeping the right co-founders is crucial. They set the pace for the journey from zero to one, much like choosing the right teammates for a game of basketball.

The reality is that startups rarely get funded until a minimum viable product is ready, or until they've achieved meaningful traction or milestones. To reach that point, co-founders must grind it out. Until funding arrives, they work for sweat equity alone: no pay, no salaries, and no clear vision of the future. There's only the hope that things will get better and that their plans will come to fruition.

In startups, finding and keeping the right co-founders is crucial. They set the pace for the journey from zero to one.

Before there were tournaments, there were sports. People played purely for fun and for the love of the game. On weekends or whenever time allowed, someone would invite friends to play basketball. The group would show up excited, and not a single person would ask the organizer what they'd get in return. They simply received an invite for a chance to have fun, knew they loved the game, and dove in for a great time.

You might say startups are different because they demand hard work and build up immense stress over time. But playing sports is hard work too. Physical exercise isn't easy—as evidenced by the state of public health around us. It requires commitment, endurance, blood, sweat, and tears, just like any startup. And similarly, there's no guarantee of winning the game.

The kind of co-founder you need is someone who shows up for the love of the game—exactly like those friends who gather for a casual pickup basketball match. They don’t just believe in your mission and vision; they contribute selflessly, without keeping score of personal gain.

Avoid the person who demands guarantees, equity upfront, or “conditions” before they’ll even play. That’s the player who disappears the moment the team hits a losing streak. They’ll be gone by the next game, the next season, or the next shiny opportunity that promises an easier win. By all means, you can still have that person on your roster if they’re exceptionally talented and deliver results—but only as an employee, never as a co-founder. You’d be foolish to expect them to stay when the going gets tough.

That’s the fundamental difference between co-founders and employees.

Employees can be hired once you have funding and can pay market salaries. Right now, at the earliest stage—when there’s little or no money, only sweat equity and shared risk—your single most important decision is choosing the right co-founder: someone who’s willing to take the leap with you, fully understanding that sharing the upside also means sharing the losses, the grind, and the long nights with no guarantee of victory.

When Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia launched Airbnb in 2008—soon joined by third co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk—they encountered repeated investor rejections and severe financial hardships. To keep the fledgling company afloat amid minimal revenue (around $200 per week, split among the trio), they accumulated substantial personal credit card debt: Chesky owed about $25,000, while Gebbia racked up tens of thousands more.

Desperate for funds, they turned to creative short-term solutions, such as designing and selling limited-edition cereal boxes themed around the 2008 presidential election (Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's), which netted them roughly $30,000. During this period, the founders weren't paying themselves salaries or receiving any benefits, instead surviving on sheer grit while the business teetered on the edge.

Their readiness to shoulder tens of thousands in credit card debt to sustain a low-revenue startup exemplifies true co-founder commitment—they were fully invested in the "game," prepared for the long haul without guarantees. It wasn't until early 2009 that they secured their first formal funding by joining Y Combinator, a renowned startup accelerator, which provided $20,000, followed by a seed round later that year.

An employee mindset—prioritizing security over shared risk—likely wouldn't have built an iconic company like Airbnb, which has since expanded globally, with millions of listings in over 220 countries and regions.

When someone invites you to join their startup, think it through; but when you do decide to continue, do it with the courage and vigor that the starting five show at the first jump ball. Come in hot, push yourself to the limit, and understand that the reward is not after every game but at the end of the season, when only one team reigns supreme. The ball is round; anything could happen, but you are ready to execute day to day what you've got to do to reach the championships.

In a startup, just like in any team sport, no one benefits until everyone gives their all. A single person can derail the forward momentum that everyone's contributing to when they selfishly put themselves at the center of it with demands that outsize the realities of incubating a nascent company.

With limited to no resources at the beginning of an entrepreneurial journey, it is hard to keep the team intact. It becomes all the more imperative that seeking out co-founders must be a carefully thought-out endeavor. Not everyone is built for it. Not everyone understands it. Not everyone truly wants it. There are people who crave the adrenaline rush in it; but that alone isn't enough. You need competence, skills, inner drive, and a genius for building something out of nothing.