---
title: "Co-founder Questions"
section: "Team"
sectionId: "team"
date: "2026-05"
---

*Based on YC's co-founder matching guidance.*

Use this questionnaire after you've gotten to know someone, found an idea you're both interested in, and are deciding whether to commit. It surfaces differences early — not to replace time together, but to supplement it.

**How to use it:** each founder answers independently, then share and discuss.

## 10 key questions to discuss before deciding to work together

These come from YC's experience watching founding teams break up. For many of these you won't have a firm answer yet — that's fine. The goal is to find strong disagreements before they become crises.

**1. Why do you want to do this startup?**
What are your personal goals, both financial and non-financial?

**2. What will our roles and titles be?**
How will we divide responsibilities? Who will be CEO? Roles change over time, but agree on the first 6–12 months and decide what the CEO role actually means.

**3. How will we split equity?**
Resolve this early. See the [Finding a Co-founder](/startup-wiki/team-finding-a-cofounder) page for guidance on vesting and what YC expects.

**4. Where will the company be based?**
Where will we each live? Will we work in-person or remotely?

**5. What idea will we work on?**
If it doesn't work out, are you willing to pivot? Are there areas you're only interested in?

**6. What needs to happen for each of us to go full-time?**
E.g. raise at least $X, validate with a paying customer, enjoy working together after two months. Skip if you're both already full-time.

**7. What is your personal financial situation?**
Are you willing to work for free and live on savings? For how long? If you need a salary, how much? Will either of us put money into the company?

**8. What will our working schedule look like?**
What days, how many hours? How long can you sustain that? Are there things outside work you need to protect time for?

**9. How do you want to build the team?**
In-person or remote? Cultural values? Approach to hiring and managing? It's fine to not have strong views yet.

**10. How will we handle disagreements — and a potential breakup?**
What process will we use when we can't agree on an important decision? What happens if we decide we don't want to work together?

## Questions to get to know each other better

Go through these once you've decided working together makes sense.

- How would your friends or colleagues describe your strengths and weaknesses?
- What are you proud of having accomplished — work-related or not?
- What do you do with your free time? What are your hobbies and interests? (Successful co-founders surprisingly often have overlapping outside interests.)
- What companies, founders, or products do you really admire — especially ones you'd want to model this company after?
- What were your past jobs or startups like? What did you like and dislike about how they were run? What did you take away?
- What is your life story and how have your experiences shaped your values?
- Have you worked with a co-founder before? What was that like?
- What kind of work feels so fun it doesn't feel like work? What kind do you avoid?
- What are your long-term life goals, and how does this startup fit in?
- What makes you most excited about working with me?
- What makes you concerned about working with me?
- What environment do you work best in? What can we do to help you create it?
- What's the best way for me to give you feedback?
- When you feel stressed, do you want to talk about it or tend to go quiet? (Psychologist and founder coach Amy Buechler has written about how these styles affect co-founder relationships.)
- Are there pressures in your life right now? Challenges outside the startup — family, visa, health — create pressure inside it. Tell your co-founder.

## Checklist when bringing on a co-founder

**Before deciding to work together:**

- Meet in person and do a trial project together.
- Do reference calls on each other. Ask people who've worked with your potential co-founder what it was like, and for advice on how to work with them. Do this transparently — agree when you're ready, then swap references.
- If you have a spouse or serious partner, have them meet your potential co-founder. This person will be a major presence in your life.

**After deciding to work together:**

- Create a system for prioritising tasks and deciding what to work on. The specific system matters less than having one.
- Set up a recurring 1-1 (typically weekly) to talk specifically about how working together is going. Amy Buechler calls these "Founder syncs" and has written a detailed guide to running them well. Done consistently, they significantly reduce the risk of a co-founder breakup.