Countless people have written about cofounder conflicts in a startup but I rarely see anyone talk about how important a similar situation is - financial and personal. There are no problems when things are going well and it’s only when things start going poorly, which they inevitably will, that these issues surface.

A founder that doesn’t have a lot of savings will have a different relationship to fundraising than the founder who has enough savings to keep going. The former will push to fundraise early while the latter will want to wait and search for the best opportunity.

A founder that’s single will have a different lifestyle and priorities than someone who is married or in a serious relationship. The founders will have a different approach to work and may have a hard time agreeing on a culture that fits them as well as the rest of the team.

A founder that wants to start a company is different than a founder who wants to strike it rich is different from a founder who believes in changing the world. Each of them are valid perspectives but put them in a room together and it will be impossible to make even the simplest decisions.

At Pressi, we had our fair share of founder conflicts and in hindsight a big part of it was how different our situations were - it’s definitely beneficial to have a team come from diverse background and provide multiple perspectives but it’s also critical that everyone understands where everyone else is coming from. And it’s important to do this when things are going well, otherwise they will become bigger issues when things are going poorly and every emotion and event is magnified.