Finding your perfect co-founder: Advice from Naked Innovations Founders Ryan Edwards & Laurie Tan

In the world of startups, having the right team in place is essential for long term success and no relationship is more important than that of the co-founders. The dynamic that exists between co-founders has the ability to make or break a startup, in fact, team related issues rank as the third most common reason for startup failures. However, finding the ideal co-founder is a formidable task. It's a challenge that Naked Innovations co-founders Ryan and Laurie are all too familiar with having helped over 80 agrifood entrepreneurs establish successful co-founder relationships when launching their ventures. But it’s not just through their official work that they have gained the knowledge and experience needed to help entrepreneurs find suitable co-founders. They also have their personal experience to draw upon, having built a strong co-founder relationship with each other when they launched Naked Innovations together in 2017. 

I recently caught up with Laurie and Ryan to chat about how it all began. The resulting conversation brought to light on their own experience of starting Naked Innovations together and the advice they have for entrepreneurs seeking a co-founder.

Hi Laurie, Ryan, thanks for joining me today to talk about co-founder relationships. Let’s start at the very beginning, can you tell me how you two met and what inspired you to embark on this entrepreneurial journey together?

Ryan: The very beginning, sure! It was 2011 and I had recently moved to Barcelona. I went for football trials for a team I wanted to join and saw a player wearing a Manchester United shirt. Naturally I complimented him on his great taste in football teams and that’s how Laurie and I became great friends! 

Laurie: Yeah so our relationship began on the football pitch and we were close friends for a number of years, then Ryan became the director of a startup called allfoodexperts and he invited me to join the team. I was keen to try something new in a space I cared about so I accepted his offer.

Ryan: Yeah I wanted to work with someone that I trusted and liked, so Laurie came to mind. We actually started as three co-founders with another friend Ian, however he left to study a masters and wanted something more secure. 

Laurie: Ryan and I felt it was a venture worth pursuing as we saw there were a lot of opportunities in the food industry. We had been working together for a year and things were going well as a team but we realised we weren’t passionate about the startup and so we decided to begin again with something new.

Ryan: We knew we wanted to continue the journey together, and we still felt there were so many tough challenges in the agrifood industry so we created Naked Innovations to see what impact we could make. 

What qualities or characteristics in each other made you believe it was the right partnership?

Ryan: I liked his openness, his strong sense of ethics and fairness, the fact he is very realistic and maybe most importantly our shared sense of humour!

Laurie: For me, it was Ryan's experience and contacts in the industry alongside his charisma, vision, enthusiasm and self-confidence that made me feel like he was the right person to partner with. 

In the early stages of building Naked Innovations. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced as co-founders and how did you overcome them?

Laurie: Hmm I think being specific about what we do as a company was a challenge, as we were open to all work when we first started Naked Innovations. We adopted a learn by doing approach, running a variety of client projects and quickly discovered what we were good at and what the market needed. 

Ryan: Yeah, also earning money regularly was a challenge at the start, as the projects were sporadic, so we both worked teaching at a business school, whilst bootstrapping the company. Building a team with limited resources was also a challenge, however we both networked a lot and were able to connect with lots of interesting people that way.

Having complementary skills and expertise are vital for a successful co-founder relationship, can you share with us how your respective skills and expertise complement each other and contribute to the success of Naked Innovations?

Laurie: We constantly support each other, openly challenging one another's ideas and bringing new perspectives. We feel totally comfortable sharing our doubts and crazy ideas and we encourage that with the whole team.

Ryan: At first our roles and responsibilities were not well defined, we were both doing a bit of everything. Once we got clarity on what we like doing and are best at we defined our roles and split the responsibilities better between us.

When helping entrepreneurs find their perfect co-founder, what are the most common mistakes you see people make?

Ryan: We see a lot of people who want to be the ‘boss’, so that they keep control but they can end up feeling alone or in relationships lacking trust. People also tend to fall in love at first sight when they meet someone they think could be a great co-founder. They find someone similar to themselves and get super excited and invested, but don’t always stop to think whether the person has the qualities they need. They also don’t test their relationship enough to see if it can really survive though the ups and downs of launching and growing a venture.

Laurie: Another mistake we see often is co-founders not evolving their roles as the business grows and changes. This can cause a lot of issues. 

In your experience, what are some effective ways to find and attract potential co-founders who align with your vision and values? 

Ryan: There are some great ways to meet potential co-founders, for example searching and attending different forums where entrepreneurs hang out, like Discord and Slack groups related to your area of interest. You could also join a venture studio or hackathon to meet like minded people and test your potential fit through matchmaking. Most of all you just need to be open and share what your deeper values and dreams are. Always be specific about what you do and don’t like in ways of working and think carefully about what skills and expertise would really complement yours. 

What advice would you give entrepreneurs seeking a co-founder for their own venture? 

Laurie: Actually celebrate co-founder breakups because it means you’ve put the work in to discover that it’s not a good match, and you’ve been honest enough with yourselves to cut your losses. I always advise co-founders to have radically honest conversations with each other. Crucially, those conversations need to happen from day zero as you need to iron out any doubts or concerns early on. If you wait for issues to resolve themselves, those issues are likely to grow as the company grows. Don’t let it get to a point where you resent your co-founder.

Ryan: Yeah I agree, founders typically avoid the break-up conversation for far too long. Some mismatches are obvious within hours. Others could work relatively well together for weeks without ever generating the right spark. Don’t be afraid to call it. You’re not doing your co-founder any favours by shying away from the fact it’s not working. We encourage founders to have a low bar for pairing up and starting, but a very high bar for staying together.

Some great advice guys! Thanks for sharing your journey with us. 

If you would like to learn more about the matchmaking services of Naked Innovations, contact us at info@nakedinnovation.eu 

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‍About the author: Charlotte Fennell is Naked Innovations' Strategic Communications lead having joined the team back in September 2021. A self proclaimed geography geek at heart; she is passionate about the using her skills in marketing strategy to help bringing about transformational change to the food system.‍ ‍