Business Bliss or Co-Founder Chaos?

This is a story of two entrepreneurs and how they both navigated their start-ups as co-founders with friends. Their experiences led them through calm and treacherous waters, pointing to the similarities between business partnerships and real matrimony. They provide not only a glimpse into their experiences but also offer keen advice on how to steer a path through all of the relationship phases in creating a company with a corporate 'spouse.' This is an entertaining and effective guide for anyone contemplating starting a business with a co-founder or currently running one. Gina and Lynn manage to share some helpful insights of their own business marriages along with the stories of several other entrepreneurs amongst a vast array of industries. Whether you are lucky to have this in hand in your dating phase or are in the midst of a business relationship in need of a re-boot, you will enjoy reading how to maintain a harmonious path.

Starting a business with a co-founder can be exciting, scary, promising, and unexpected. There are so many assumptions made that do not end up going the way the initial business plan predicted. Like the evolution of a relationship from dating to marriage, the experience can be like a roller coaster. Many entrepreneurs decide to create their companies alongside a co-founder for a myriad of reasons. Many do so with the assumption that their relationship will be the glue holding their partnership together, only to find out it could lead to the demise of not only their partnership but the business. Many smart-minded business executives branch out toward entrepreneurship with another person leaving their business acumen in the dust and leaving it all to trust and chance. There is a way to navigate the phases of this road carefully that will not only lead to a successful partnership but hopefully an intact friendship. Gina and Lynn both experienced the relationship road in entrepreneurial matrimony from startup to breakup. They share their stories as well as the stories of many other entrepreneurs they interviewed across different scenarios. The book will take you on a journey through the different phases of relationships, both in personal life and the corporate world. These two women share their advice and some clear-cut guidance on how to plan, prepare, and prevent a boardroom blissful union from turning into a business and friendship blunder. This book is for anyone who has been in their own unplanned predicament where their company set up did not turn out as planned. This book will assist you in contemplating many scenarios that could arise, including those you may not even realize you need to put on the table for discussion. This will help you walk the aisle in a more prepared stride with your eyes wide open for potential co-founder chaos.

Lynn is an entrepreneur who co-founded a consumer product company with distribution in retailers globally. A San Francisco Bay Area native, she moved to Arizona where she raised her two children and currently resides with her husband.