And they lived happily ever after. In my first post in this two-part series, I talked about why it’s good to find a partner for your startup. But, you need to choose wisely because a potential business partner can turn out to be your startup’s Prince Charming or Cruella De Vil. To that end, how do you know that you’ve found the Prince Charming to your fairytale startup?

Let me share with you my description of a perfect business partner. Keep in mind though that, like finding the perfect wife or husband, the perfect business partner for each person will be different.

1) Common Interests

In the next year or so, as you move from the problem/solution fit to product/market fit in the lean startup stages, you will be spending hours and hours with your business partner in a small, cramped and dank room. The stench of last night’s pizza dinner mixed with body odour fills the air. You haven’t showered for the last week because you were too busy with coding the beta version of your product, reviewing results from your problem interviews or looking for new customer channels.

Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. But, it’s true that in the first year or so of your startup, you will be spending a lot of time with your business partner. The line between work and play blurs. Work-life balance? Psht, if you care about that, then you shouldn’t have started a startup in the first place! You work hard, but you also gotta play hard. That’s where it’s good to have a common ground or interest with your business partner. If you’re going to be with the person a lot, you might as well like the person.

With Edmund, my current business partner, we’re both around the same age. We like fast cars. We’re both youth pastors at local churches. We have similar taste in music and movies. So, when we’re hanging out, we don’t always have to talk about business. Because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

2) Same work ethics

Don’t you hate it when someone nags you non-stop or micro-manages you? I don’t like being someone I hate. But it’s tough when the person you’re working with is lazy, undependable, unmotivated and unpredictable. In this case, I feel compelled to hold their hand so that they can finish their job. I don’t want to work with this kind of people. If I had the power, I’d fire them on the spot. I call these people type loser individuals.

The people I do want to work with are, what Daniel Pink described in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, type I individuals. These individuals are self-motivated and autonomous. They are fueled more by intrinsic desires (completing a puzzle for the sake of completing a puzzle) instead of extrinsic desires (money, sex, etc.). They pursue mastery in their craft or skill at all cost. Wouldn’t you rather have a type I instead of a type loser business partner? But, here’s the catch: type I individuals are attracted to other type I individuals. If you’re looking for a type I business partner, make sure you are one yourself.

In my case, I see Edmund as a type I individual. He is currently working for a company based outside of Canada as an Internet marketing contractor. Since his boss is not even physically in Canada, he gets the job done with very little to no supervision. Edmund has also self-taught himself about web development and Internet marketing.

3) Little to no overlap in skills

Kevin O’Leary, one of the dragons in the Canadian version of Dragon’s Den and the co-host of the TV show Shark Tank, wrote in his book Cold Hard Truth that if you’re looking for a business partner, “make sure you find someone whose strengths are precisely your weaknesses. Have very little overlap.” O’Leary described how he grew his startup The Learning Company (TLC) from his basement to a billion dollar company with his partner Michael Perik and Scott Murray. O’Leary was in charge of sales and marketing, Murray was in charge of finances and Perik was in charge of operations. O’leary observed that, “among the three of us, there were simply no gaps in the armor… we had it all covered.”

That’s what I found in Edmund. He’s a very strong web developer. The product we’re building is related to his current line of work. He’s considered a guru in his field of work. As for me, I’ve been reading and researching about the lean startup. I’ve had a handful of false starts and failed ideas. But I have the experience and the connection with the startup community. Together, I believe that we’re a good team.

This is the most important quality you need to look for in a business partner. Even if you find a type I individual who you have a common ground with, but this person’s strengths and weaknesses are exactly the same as yours, then don’t chose this person as your business partner because you’ll be setting yourself up for failure. You need all your bases covered in a startup.

Conclusion

As you can see, I used these 3 qualities to confirm that Edmund is a good partner for me. I’m sure there are other suggestions out there. Check out the ones I found below. But as always, get out of your house and actually start looking for one.

Other resources:

• BC Business School
• Quick Sprout Blog
• Entrepreneur.com blog

And they lived happily ever after. Most fairy tale romance usually ends with those words. Everyone is out looking for the “one.” There are a gazillion books about finding the right love partner. But there are only a handful of books on finding the right business partner.

In my opinion, finding the right business partner for your startup is as important as finding the right love partner. In both cases, choosing the wrong partner can cost you millions of dollars. You would also have to spend a considerable amount of time with this person, whether it’s in the boardroom or the bedroom, or for some, both (but I would really advice against mixing business and pleasure). So, you really have to think about who your love or business partner will be.

But, why even go through the hassle of finding a business partner? Some of you would ask, “Why can’t I do my startup on my own? It’s my idea anyway.” I’m not going to tell you that you need a partner. But, I have the following reasons why you might want to consider one.

1. Two heads are better than one

There’s a saying that two heads are better than one. In most cases, the same is true for startups: two co-founders are better than one. You have two heads to find more creative solutions to complex problems. You have two pairs of eyes to foresee roadblocks before they come and to also observe and learn from customers. You have two pairs of hands to split the workload, especially if you can only work on your startup after-office hours or part time. But, of course, all of these benefits depend on you having the right business partner. I’ll talk more about that on the next post.

2. Everyone sucks at something

I have yet to find a person who is good at everything involved in a startup – marketing, sales, finance, technology, contacts and business-savvy. On top of all of that, this person would also have to be self-motivated, always positive, determined and unwavering. I’m not going to say this person doesn’t exist. With over 6 billion people in the world, chances are there are people like this out there. But for us normal folks, we’re only good at a few things and suck at others. That’s where the business partner comes in. Where you suck, he or she is a rockstar at and vice versa. Most people fall in this category. Look at some of the biggest companies out there such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft; they had two ore more co-founders.

Conclusion

If you still think that you don’t need a partner, then kudos to you. I admire you. I know I can never do it by myself.

But for the others like me, check out my next post to find out what qualities you need to look for in a business partner and why I chose Edmund as mine.