In a recent Harvard Innovation Labs podcast episode, Rym Baouendi, director of alumni engagement, and Peter Gladstone, senior B2C advisor, share their thoughts on building strong startup teams.
Date before you marry.
Don’t commit to a co-founder too quickly. Just like any important relationship, it’s smart to test things first. Work together on a project or a small piece of the venture before locking in a long-term partnership. That experience will tell you far more about whether you’re a good fit than early enthusiasm alone.
Do you need a co-founder or a hire?
Ask yourself: If you suddenly had one million dollars, would you use it to hire someone or bring on a co-founder? The answer may reveal whether you truly need a co-founder or just a specific skill set for a period of time. A co-founder should be someone essential to the long-term journey, not just someone filling a short-term gap.
Effort and risk should match rewards.
Equity splits can be a source of tension. Pete emphasizes that equity should reflect actual contributions and risk. If one founder is working full-time and another is part-time, the split shouldn’t be equal. Aligning effort, risk, and rewards at the start helps avoid conflict down the line.
Some tools for discussing equity:
Know what motivates each teammate.
Not everyone on a team is motivated by the same thing. Some may care about the mission, others about learning, and others about financial upside. Taking the time to understand what drives each person helps keep the team aligned and prevents mismatched expectations.
Start with shared values. Rituals will evolve.
Culture “is not something you put on a nice website.” What matters most early on is agreeing on shared values. The specific rituals—meetings, workflows, tools—will naturally change as the venture grows. Values are the anchor; practices can adapt.
Leaders set the tone.
Pete reminds founders that “culture comes from the top.” Whether you realize it or not, your team is watching how you work—what time you arrive, how quickly you reply to emails or Slack, how focused you are during the day. Those behaviors set the standard. As a leader, you create the culture by example, and people will mirror you whether you intend it or not.
TLDR
There’s no perfect formula for building a team. The real work is in the conversations about values, contributions, commitment, and motivations. Teams that thrive aren’t the ones that never face conflict; they’re the ones that build enough trust and clarity to work through it together.
