A founder explains why working with close friends often fails as startups scale. He uses a client example to show how misaligned roles create friction, and recommends early conversations about who does what, what each person is good at, and how to structure the company professionally.
Should you work with your close friends is a question that frequently comes up when you start your company. A client of mine started a business with a couple of close friends, and they're now in a situation where, as they scale, not everybody is fit for purpose. And so how do you go from having a friendship and a company that you started together to having a professionally run organism? And the answer is, it's not that hard. You just have to have early conversations about What it is you want to be doing, who's better at what than who, and then organize yourselves around that.
