Everything You Need to Know About Startup Founders and Co-Founders

You may have come across the words Founders and Co-founders, but are not aware of what they represent. This guide will provide you with everything you would like to know.

Who are Startup Founders?

The founder is a person developing and working on a unique idea and converting it into a reality. Such people may set up their own business or help others. Larry Page, for instance, is Google’s founder.

Who are the co-founders?

It could be that the founder takes the help of others to establish a company. The ‘others’ here are referred to as ‘Cofounders’. In the above example, Sergey Brin is the co-founder of Google along with Larry Page. Co-founder is considered to be a term that provides equal credit to others who helped start the business. They may have some essential skills that the founder may lack or be part of the startup’s vision from scratch.

Difference

There are generally two startup titles carried simultaneously, namely, ‘CEO’ and ‘Founder’. The latter is stated to be a term that best describes the person’s relationship with the startup’s history. On the other hand, ‘CEO’ is a term that refers to the person’s current position in the organizational hierarchy. It is quite likely that some CEOs appointed are the business founders.

The other difference pointed out is that ‘Founder’ is rather a permanent title, not ‘CEO’. Founders and Co-founders are respectable titles and should hold significance as the organization grows. You may want someone else to operate your business. If so, then you can derive the title ‘President’.

Difference between founding members and Cofounders

Both are involved in startup creation and have a great stake. Probably, they have provided business capital from their funds. They also could have put in long hours to help the startup realize its set goals and objectives. They can be termed to be the people who have taken all the risks and pains during the early challenging days.

The founding member is likely to have a similar feeling to that of a startup founder/co-founder. It is because they have a much earlier start and put in long hours or even accept low wages. However, it is important to understand that the founding team member is not a founder, but an early employee, with a good contribution.

One crucial difference noticed here is, the stock types received by the two groups. When compared to Employee Stock Grants, the Founder’s equity is quite different.

What should be the number of Startup Founders?

When founders are concerned, the ideal number is 2-3. Exceptions however are made of up to 4, depending on the team and startup. However, the lone founder is likely to find the going very tough as the person has to bear all the responsibilities alone. Moreover, the person is not likely to possess all the essential skills or expertise required for the startup to achieve success. But again having more than four will mean a real headache for everyone since there will be differing opinions.

How to come up with co-founder titles?

You may perhaps be wondering what title to derive, and who will be the Sales Head, CTO, and CEO. Focus on what every person is offering. Doing some research will allow you to recognize people’s skills. The person with technical expertise is to be the CTO, and a people-friendly person is to be the marketing head. The person who deals with money should be the CEO.

Therefore, getting to know about startup founders and co-founders will allow you to derive the proper designation and title.