By Poornima Vijayashanker
“I don’t know where this will go, but I wanted to introduce you two to each other because you have a very similar passions and interests. I’ll leave it up to the two of you to take it from here.”
After they chatted with each other they got back to me. They were pretty psyched, because they had both found someone to talk to about their idea. Prior to their conversation they had just been thinking about it and working on the same idea alone. But they were both a little cautious about each other because they hadn’t yet met. They had been in partnerships before that hadn’t worked out the way they had wanted them to.
We all at one point have the problem of company partners who initially inspire and excite us to excel, but then at some point things just don’t work out. Usually one person wants to go in a different direction. We have to be aware of this, acknowledge it early on, but also learn to appreciate what we’ve gained from the experience.
If you’re thinking about taking on company partners and working on a project with someone new make sure you take time to not only talk about the project, but also about where you each think you can add value and what it is you want to achieve from this project. While it might seem a little touchy-feely to most, having these kind of conversations helps you understand each other and make sure there is alignment. But it doesn’t just stop there, you have to do check-ins periodically.
Whether the company partners you’re looking for take the form of a co-founder or someone you’re interested in partnering together for a project, you have to learn to be OK with commenting and criticizing each other professionally. Every time there is a decision to be made you have to make sure you both want the same thing.
To figure this out, you may want to start by doing the following:
- Ask them what bad experience they might have had in the past that they want to avoid.
- Setup a clear standard for communicating both the positive and the negative.
- Make sure their is alignment when it comes to values and the direction you’re headed in.
- If you’re unsure from the beginning, then take it one step at a time, and express your reservations to each other.
Have you recently partnered with someone on a project or a business venture? How did it go? What was your approach? Please let me know in the comments below.
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