Hey bootstrappers,

Ever wondered if it’s worth finding a cofounder?

After hundreds of interviews, we’re still unsure. Some founders say cofounders are a hassle. Others say they wouldn’t have succeeded without them.

Maybe a better question to ask is, “Are you the full package?”

If you lack skills, a cofounder can help plug those gaps or even just motivate you to do better. They might bring along referral networks that boost sales and brand awareness too.

Some food for thought next time you’re chatting with a friend, colleague, or even a family member about your business idea.

Chris Roper
Managing Editor

Burnout Taught This 18-Year-Old Founder How to Thrive in His Second Business

Whoever said youth was wasted on the young? William Ferreira built his first business at 18 years old and then started another a few years later. How many have you built?

When William Ferreira quit film school, he wanted to flex his people skills. He was a natural salesperson who put people at ease and made them feel good about themselves. Unable to do that behind a lens, he dropped out and launched a creative marketing agency.

After working seven days a week for three years straight, the grind almost killed him. Friends and family intervened and he sold his shares, taking a gap year to recharge and refocus. While traveling, he met another founder, Aran Spencer-Higgins, who suggested they start a business.

But would he burn out again? Not if they got the business model right. Rather than stress over maintaining a constant supply of one-off projects, his second agency, Social Buff, would charge a retainer, helping him budget, forecast, and hire without worrying about cash flow.

Turning points

1. Quitting his first business to save his mental health. Selling his shares saved him physically and mentally, and taught him to think deeper about business models.

2. Charging a retainer rather than one-off fees. Recurring revenue helped William plan ahead, giving Social Buff a little breathing room while it consolidated its services.

3. Convincing brick-and-mortar businesses the future is digital. William saw an opportunity in helping non-digital businesses sell online, where young people are.

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How a Crushing Layoff Led to This Founder’s Career Pivot That’s Helping Working Women Everywhere

Mom and entrepreneur, Arezou Zarafshan, realized that freeing women to pursue their ambitions meant outsourcing family tasks to superstars like Emmy, her PA and nanny.

Running a family is like running a small business. You have a million things screaming for your attention but only so many hours (and hands) to respond. Do you commit your entire life to kitchen and babysitting duties or get smart about it? Arezou Zarafshan hopes the latter.

Arezou built Call Emmy as an outsourcing app tailored to the modern-day parent. Rather than doing everything yourself, you hire approved and vetted people to help out with everything from laundry to babysitting – straight from your smartphone. It’s like TaskRabbit but for parents.

But the app got off to a shaky start. First, it was full of bugs. It was also slow and users often didn’t receive notifications of new jobs. Arezou was on the verge of giving up when she recruited another founder in exchange for better technology, making life easier for parents everywhere.

Turning points

1. Hiring a developer to build her MVP. As a non-technical founder, Arezou couldn’t build the product herself. The app was buggy but it confirmed demand for the product.

2. Acquiring Nano in a stock swap. Arezou acquired babysitting app Nano’s tech from friend Liz Polizzi in return for shares in Call Emmy, vastly improving the product.

3. Testing different advertising strategies. Word-of-mouth worked best for childcare while SEO, Google ads, Facebook, and networking work best for other services.

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How This Founder Jumped Off the Top Rungs of the Corporate Ladder to Play By Her Own Rules as an Artist

Danielle Becker silently grew a freelance client roster until she could break free of the corporate fashion world. Today, she never says no to a commission and couldn’t be happier.

Although the child of entrepreneurs, Danielle’s passion has always been art. She graduated in graphic design and planned to conquer the fashion industry. But instead, the corporate culture at places like Aeropostale and Hanes stifled her. She never felt understood or appreciated.

After a few firings, Danielle joined Macy’s as an art director. Were things looking up? For a while, but then her mentor left, and Danielle decided it was time to focus on her passions. She’d been doing art commissions for friends and built a large following on Instagram, so why not?

From hand-painting Goyard purses to splatter painting with Neiman Marcus, Danielle’s creative studio has given her the freedom to create without judgment. And guess who has helped build her studio into a creative powerhouse? A very special cofounder – her mom.

Turning points

1. Sharing her commissions on Instagram. Like it or hate it, social media marketing is critical to creatives, and as Danielle was doing the work anyway, why not share it?

2. Outsourcing jobs others could do better. Danielle knows what she’s good at and only once tried to code before realizing her time would be better spent creating art.

3. Hiring people unafraid of challenging authority. Unlike her past bosses, Danielle encouraged employees to give feedback so that she could grow as a founder.

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