Cofounder Decision-Making Agreement: How to Avoid Deadlock
A cofounder decision-making agreement is not bureaucracy. It is what keeps speed, trust, and accountability from collapsing into founder deadlock. Early on, d...
Fabrice Payet•
7 min read
Cofounder Compatibility Guides
Practical frameworks for choosing a cofounder, discussing equity and roles, and building a partnership that can handle pressure.
Turn reading into a founder decision
Compare how you work, then use the questions checklist to make the difficult conversations explicit.
Cofounder Reference Check Questions to Ask Before You Commit
Cofounder reference check questions should reveal behavior under pressure. Not reputation. Not charisma. Not whether the person is generally smart, impressive,...
Fabrice Payet•
8 min read
Cofounder Roles and Responsibilities: What to Decide Before You Commit
Cofounder roles and responsibilities should be clear before equity is final. Not perfectly clear. Startups change too quickly for that. But clear enough that b...
Fabrice Payet•
10 min read
Technical Cofounder Equity Split: How to Make the Deal Fair
A technical cofounder equity split is not payment for writing code. If you treat it that way, the partnership will start in the wrong place. A technical cofou...
Fabrice Payet•
9 min read
What Happens If a Cofounder Leaves? What to Decide Before It Happens
What happens if a cofounder leaves should not be decided while a cofounder is leaving. By then, the conversation is already loaded. One founder may feel aband...
Fabrice Payet•
7 min read
Cofounder Vesting Agreement: What to Decide Before You Commit
A cofounder vesting agreement can feel like a lack of trust. It is not. Founder vesting is what keeps trust from becoming fragile when real life changes. A fo...
Fabrice Payet•
13 min read
Cofounder Agreement Checklist: What to Include Before You Sign
A cofounder agreement is not just paperwork. It is the written version of the hard conversations most founders are tempted to skip. When the partnership is ne...
Fabrice Payet•
12 min read
How to Split Equity With a Cofounder Without Creating Future Conflict
Splitting equity with a cofounder feels like a math problem. It is not. The numbers matter, of course. A 50/50 split feels different from 60/40. Vesting terms...
Fabrice Payet•
15 min read
Cofounder Trial Collaboration Checklist: 2 to 4 Weeks Before You Commit
A cofounder trial collaboration is a short, real project you complete together before you make the partnership formal. It is not a fake homework assignment. It...
Fabrice Payet•
6 min read
A Compatibility Layer for Cofounder Matching Platforms
Cofounder matching platforms solve an important problem: discovery. They help founders find people who might be worth meeting based on role, stage, geography, ...
Fabrice Payet•
6 min read
Founder Compatibility Assessment for Accelerators and Startup Programs
Accelerators do not fail only because startups pick the wrong markets. They also lose time, momentum, and investor confidence when founding teams fracture. For...
Fabrice Payet•
7 min read
How to Choose a Cofounder Before You Split Equity
Choosing a cofounder is not hiring a senior employee. It is choosing the person who will share equity, pressure, decisions, bad news, investor scrutiny, and yea...
Fabrice Payet•
7 min read
How to Test a Potential Cofounder Before Splitting Equity
You do not test a potential cofounder by having one great conversation. You test them by creating enough real signal before the partnership becomes legally, em...
Fabrice Payet•
6 min read
How to Run a Cofounder Trial Project Before Splitting Equity
The worst time to discover you cannot work with someone is after you have already split equity. By then, the decision has emotional weight, legal complexity, a...
Fabrice Payet•
14 min read
Cofounder Matching Platforms vs a Compatibility Test: What Actually De-Risks the Partnership
Finding a cofounder and knowing you can build with one are two different problems. Most founders only realise this after they have solved the first and are half...
Fabrice Payet•
6 min read
The Cofounder Compatibility Test: 8 Dimensions to Check Before Equity
Most founders spend more time choosing their phone than their cofounder. Think about it. You research specs for hours, compare reviews, test the camera, agoniz...
Fabrice Payet•
20 min read
10 Cofounder Red Flags That Founders Ignore (Until It's Too Late)
You've found someone who shares your vision, has complementary skills, and seems excited about building together. The chemistry feels right. You're ready to spl...
Fabrice Payet•
11 min read
7 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Cofounder (That Most Founders Skip)
You've met someone brilliant. The chemistry is electric. You finish each other's sentences about the product vision, and you're ready to split equity 50/50 and ...
Fabrice Payet•
11 min read
How to Evaluate Cofounder Compatibility Before You Split Equity
You found someone promising. The conversations are good, the skills look complementary, and the product vision seems aligned. Now comes the real question: shoul...
Fabrice Payet•
8 min read