The Other Founder (4 employees)

The third installment in my series on going from 1 to 50 employees. After I had things up and running and did all the hard work, the other founder waltzed in.  Actually, that isn't accurate at all, but I like to give him a hard time about it.  Back when it was just a hobby, we spent a lot of time thinking about how to run the business.  As you can see by our detailed business plan:

The nice thing about having a partner is perfect alignment of interests. Shareholders have a different risk profile.  Employees have their own personal interests in mind.  Customers only want what befits them.  A partner provides a lot of peace of mind because you can discuss any issue knowing that you have the same goals and interest in mind.  There are a lot of things coming at you as an entrepreneur. Its nice to know somebody's got your back.

Divide and Conquer.  Most early hires made my job harder. I had to do a lot more work. More sales means more product enhancements and data entry. More people is more management. Additional folks add complexity and scope.  A partner, on the other hand, actually helps decrease workload.  Tasks can be divided. Competency and expertise in specific areas can develop.  Of course, you've got to trust their competency and integrity. Which leads us to tool #3 in getting more employees:

Tool #3.Throw away the partnership documents.  Get a handshake you can trust.  I swear we spent 100 hours arguing over the minutiae of our partnership document.  This was largely based on several people I knew who had been screwed by their partners.  The lesson to be learned is *not* about getting a long contract.  In the end, you just need to pick the right partner. Because, if they want to screw you over, they'll find a way regardless of what papers have been signed.