Grit Multipliers

People sometimes argue that you’re more likely to build a successful business as a solo founder. The argument goes that without co-founders, you get faster decision making, and since speed is one of most important advantages you have as a startup, you get a better shot at iterating yourself to success. There is an important point that’s often missed here: Having co-founders significantly lowers the probability that you’ll give up.

If you commit to building something big and risky, odds are that you’re mentally tough and resilient. Your psychology will, on average, push you to persevere. But there can be a lot of volatility around that average as you go from exuberance to desperation, sometimes over the course of a single day. When the odds are stacked against you, the temptation to give up can become overwhelming.

Every venture I’ve worked on, I’ve gotten within striking distance of giving up. Pretty much every founder I know will tell you the same (at least in private). When you hit a low, you start to rationalize quitting. It starts to feel like the right thing to do because, rationally, it often is. Having co-founders counteracts this thinking in two ways.

Rationality override

In a strong team, you don’t feel like you have a license to give up. There’s a sense of responsibility towards your co-founders that can override any rational argument in favor of quitting, even if quitting would maximize your own risk-return function in the short term. Compassion can act as a strong deterrent. And so does reputation, which shows that this behavior may not be entirely altruistic (or irrational): If you develop a reputation for letting people hang, that makes it much less likely you’ll convince great people to work with you in the future. When I look for co-founders and team members, I index heavily on personal references. Having strong references from failed ventures is a much more powerful signal than having weak references from a successful one.

Volatility reduction

There is a second effect of having co-founders that makes you less likely to rationalize quitting to begin with. If your co-founders sense you’re at risk of quitting, the right thing for them to do is to project optimism. That’s especially true in the early days. It’s hard to survive the departure of a team member if that means you’ll lose 25% of your workforce. Your co-founders will actively (and often subconsciously) push your psychology to revert to its natural state of perseverance. I’ve seen this many times. When I’m gloomy, my co-founders tend to be optimistic, and vice versa. This reduces downside volatility of the emotional rollercoaster you’re on. The lows become less low (or shorter), so you don’t end up rationalizing quitting to begin with. (1)

Grit multipliers

Seeing these two effects in action is a sign of the strength of a founding team. Great co-founders act as grit multipliers. While every team member on their own would’ve probably given up long ago, together you push through. I think that’s where the real value of having co-founders lies. Complementary skillsets, diversity of thought, etc. — those things are important, but you can also get those by hiring well. Compared to other factors such as speed of decision-making, I think grit is a far bigger determinant of startup success. It seems true that in theory being faster means you can afford to be less gritty since the periods of pain can be be shorter, but it’s not clear it reduces their intensity. And that’s what I’ve found matters most.

Epilogue

Grit multiplier effects also exist in other domains. In life partnerships, for example, where stressful experiences like raising kids become not only manageable but hugely enjoyable. My wife at least 10x’s my perseverance on that front. Another example is endurance sports with a team component, such as relay races or triathlons with team scoring. Even if there is no explicit team element, fellow racers (and spectators) can often have the same effect and help you push through the wall.

“I'm convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” — Steve Jobs

“Not quitting is infectious. When you have a leader with that attitude [an absolute refusal to quit] at the head of the company, that is a big deal.” —Marc Andreessen

Thank you to Blaise Buma and Stephanie Ng for thoughtful comments on this post.

Notes:

(1) My co-founder Blaise points out that even if you are emotionally strongly-correlated with your co-founders, you tend to work on different aspects of the business, and good news in one part can offset bad news in another. Finally, people often react differently to idiosyncratic events, even if they react the same way on average. Emotional diversification at work.