PART 0: HOW YOU OPERATE

1. What are your strengths and superpowers (beyond functional expertise)?
Empathetic, positive, humor, startup pragmatic/long term perfectionist, think in solutions in very creative ways, push a team forward, technical backed communicator, good listener.

2. What are your weaknesses? How do you try to compensate for them?
Too many interests leads to loss of motivation (focus + working in a team helps), I'm not a good researcher to do thorough investigations (force myself to dig deeper), minimal hands-on leadership experience (read about it and learning from mentors)

3. What words would your co-workers use to describe you? What would they want me to know about what it’s like to work with you?
Positive, honest, knowledgeable team player, that keeps the team in good spirits, domain expert, socially engaged, not afraid to assertively point to problems, not conflict avoidant.

4. How do you deal with conflict? Describe a time you dealt with it well — and a time you didn’t.
Communicate openly and transparent see where the conflict is rooted in and try to find common ground around the topic. Understand cultural differences. Strong preference to resolve conflicts also if difficult bridges need to be crossed. It’s better to communicate too much than not enough and dealing with problems head-on leaves less room for escalation.

Good: One time I had a co-worker where meetings ended in frustration. I set-up a meeting invited a manager to deal with it head-on. We talked about it and laid out a plan to avoid those frustrations.

Not so good: A long time ago, a client and I got into a disagreement about work and invoices. I took a hard stand and communicated that. The client refused to pay and communicate. We ended in a dead-lock. I should have anticipated better on the client and not played hard-ball.

5. What’s the worst interpersonal conflict you’ve dealt with? How did you handle it?
A long time ago, a client and I got into a disagreement about work and invoices. I took a hard stand and communicated that. The client refused to pay and communicate. I was afraid he would turn to physical violence. I started meditating to reduce stress and deal with my panicking mind. After half a year the fear was gone. Lesson learned to never do business with people that are shady.

6. How do you cope with stress? Depression? Are there any red flags I can help watch out for?
I have a good radar when it comes to my limits of stress and I take my time when necessary. When I am very deep into a topic for a long time I feel it in my body. Stepping back, ordering tasks and zooming out are my coping mechanisms. I tent to be very positive and would not really be depressed at work.

7. How do you arrive at your convictions? What are some key mental models you use to be creative, solve problems, or make decisions?
I arrive mostly at my convictions based on gut feeling, intuition, talking to people (family, friends, inspirational figures) and past knowledge. A pitfall might be that I can communicate those assumptions too strong without underlying factual evidence. That’s a pitfall for me.

I solve problems mostly by positioning myself into “the other party” or creatively brainstorm for solutions. A question I ask myself could be: “What if this HAS to be done now, what options do I have?”.

8. Describe your work style. What techniques do you use for personal productivity?
I work best concentrated without distraction, especially on coding/system tasks. I'm not the best context switcher. I organize my work mostly with project planning software and todo lists. They also help keeping order and lower stress levels.

I “optimized my life for sleeping”, because the benefit of a good nights rests are huge. I won’t do creative or exciting tasks at the end of the day and try to have a stable sleep rhythm.

9. How many hours/week are you willing to work? For how long? What sounds good? What sounds like hell? Do you have different expectations for different phases of the company’s lifespan?
~60 / week. In the beginning we might need to run harder and I am willing to dedicate more time for it (of course), sometimes even full weeks if necessary. At some point we need to find a healthy balance, where 5/6 days a week sounds like the ideal.

PART I: ROLES

10. What would you want your role to be before we reach product/market fit? What would you want your role to be after we reach product/market fit?
In the beginning I can take responsibility for developing the MVP (design + development), do A/B testing, strategy, brainstorming ideas, talk to investors, do research, do competitor analysis and controlling expenses. I can support talking to potential clients, which is necessary for every founder, but I expect my partner to take responsibility and the majority of the work to find them and talk to them, to get the requirements and pivoting right. I expect my partner to "get out there", talk to potential new clients partnerships and seek publicity. For setting up the company/contracts we might need legal advice and for accounting too.

Afterwards I will focus more on development, product, tech., infrastructure, and leadership.

11. How do you see your role changing as the company starts to scale?
As the company develops, I might focus more on where my strength lies: product + tech. When the team gets bigger I’ll need to manage people, build the team, something I like to get to know more about and want to develop in.

12. If your role becomes unavailable entirely (e.g., the board hires a professional CEO or an experienced executive), what would you want your new role to be?
If I get forcefully changed into another position from CTO, I wouldn't be very happy and might leave. I might see myself still on an advisory role for the CTO, but definitely still in tech.

13. Areas of Responsibility (AoR) Exercise: Rank yourself in these areas (both as an individual contributor and as a leader) on a scale of 1-10, then rate your passion in each:
◦ Sales
◦ Marketing
◦ Product
◦ Strategy
◦ Design
◦ Engineering
◦ Operations
◦ Fundraising
◦ Leadership
◦ Company building
◦ Recruiting
◦ Legal
◦ Specific domain/tech skills


Skills, (first grade skill, second passion)

Sales 8, 2
Design 7, 7
Fundraising 5, 7
Recruiting 5, 7
Marketing 8, 6
Engineering 10, 10
Leadership 6, 8
Legal 2, 2
Product Strategy 8, 8
Operations 7, 7
Company Building 5, 7


Domain knowledge:
Startups: 8, 8
Software project management: 9, 7
Automation: 10, 10
Web development 10, 10
Software Testing 10, 10
DevOps 8, 8
Security 7, 9
Privacy 9, 9


A. Cluster AORs based on rank and discuss how they could be assigned to individuals. (E.g., John is a 10 in product, so he gets that AOR).

B. Break ties using the passion rating. (E.g., Nick is a 7 in sales with medium passion and Gloria is a 7 in sales with high passion, so Gloria will take on sales).

C. Discuss: Do these clusters align with everyone’s expectations, skills, and desires? Do we all agree on the areas of responsibility for the CEO, CTO, COO, etc.?

PART II: CORPORATE STRUCTURE AND FUNDING

14. Where should our startup be based? How do you feel about remote or distributed teams?
Berlin. I live here and want to work in-person as much as I can. Only when we need to hire top-talent that cannot relocate, we should consider distributed teams, but the default should be on-site.

15. Is there anything I should know that may materially affect your time or legal status as a founder? (e.g., visa, green card, criminal record)
I’m an Auslaender in Berlin ;-)

16. How should founder equity be set? What’s your philosophy on the employee equity pool?
50/50 for the best balance and a 8-10% equity pool, which seems to be the standard.

17. What should our approach to employee compensation be, including cash and equity?
First hires should be top-hires with equity compensation, to stimulate long term commitment. Key is to get the best out of each person, wether with cash or equity.

18. How much money should we raise? Where do you want this startup to go — bootstrapped small business or go big or go home?
I think as big as we can make it. I am willing to go the VC way (I am aware it creates dependencies and pressure). I heard better stories about angel investors, but have no first-hand experience.

19. What matters most in a funder? If you were doing reference checks on a VC or potential board member, what traits would you be looking for?
Domain knowledge, previous investments, how involved is this person in the day to day. How much influence do they want to have?

20. What does an ideal company exit look like to you?
Work on it for 2-5 years and exit with 7-8 figures.

21. How do you think about the timeframe and pace of success? Are you willing to take the longer path? How long is too long?
Success for me is having impact with the product, grow as a human being and a nice monetary exit or monthly income. I am willing to make this my baby for the next years, maximum 7 (although looking so far in the future is very unrealistic). I need to see growth and traction those first years, else we should pivot or look for alternatives.

22. What number would you sell at? How would that change if you got extra liquidity from your existing positions?
After 1-2 years sell at minimum 10+ million, after 3-4 sell at minimum 40-50 million. With extra liquidity I would go on longer, if I would reach financial independence.

23. What do we do if we find product/market fit, yet none of the founders are excited about that product?
We don’t do it, passion (and founder-product fit) is a very important part of the equation and drive.

24. Can one co-founder fire another co-founder? Can someone else fire a founder?
I wouldn’t want to. There should be rules about engagement and dedication and also consequences when does are not met. But straight out firing sounds like the wrong balance.

PART III: PERSONAL MOTIVATION

25. Why do you want to start a company — in general, and in particular right now?
I have created companies before, but “the startup path” has been my dream for a long time, build my own company and jump out of bed every day to work on it in a fast paced and vibrant environment. I want to have a product that people really use and love. I also want to be able to have enough money for the rest of my life, which I can do so by having a proper exit.

26. What is success to you? What motivates you personally?
Success would be to have a lot of impact to a lot of users. Success would be contributing to something good to the world. Success would also be a big evaluation of the company or a lot of revenue. I do like to make money, but it’s not my main driver, impact is.

27. What impact do you want to have? Is your startup objective “getting rich” or “changing the world”? Is control or success more important?
I want to contribute to something meaningful that a lot of people are using. I want to change the world and secondary own more money to cover the rest of my life, but also to maybe more easily start other ventures and/or start with more charitable work. Control is more important than success, I wouldn’t want to step away for more monetary gain.

28. What makes you gritty?
Have a clear goal of what the light is at the end of the tunnel. Motivation from a team mate can be of huge help.

29. Who do you admire most in your organization/family/friends and why?
Family: tolerance and respect for one another. Friends: loyalty, deep talks, connection and the ability to always count on them.

30. What are you most proud of in your work career or life to date?
My move to Berlin and building up a living here next to a circle of in-expandable friends.

31. When have you taken a chance when others did not? Or when have you been willing to take an unpopular stance?
I take unpopular stances all the time, I wouldn’t shy away for that :-). I went all-in in my previous startup while my co-founder didn’t. I’m a vegetarian, out of animal welfare perspective. In general I always evaluate if “the rules” make sense and if I should apply them to myself :-)

32. What are some of the products and companies you love, and why?
Automated Testing platforms (Cypress), marketplaces (Treatwell, Helpling), Proton Privacy tools, Private Messaging (Signal Messenger).

I love to automate processes, where before everything was manual, than magically everything becomes automated. I like solutions that involve privacy or local first, because I’m a supporter of those concepts. I like platform/marketplaces where you connect ask and demand and make a profit out of that.

Web app generation (Lovable, bolt.new), I also would like to jump into the “vibe coding” wave, because it is such a big benefit for so many people. Fascinating.

33. Is it possible to build a wildly successful company without burning out or damaging other parts of your life (family, health, etc.)?
Yes. Health should never be in jeopardy, I think I know clearly where my boundaries are and will not cross them. Family and relationships can in the beginning of the company’s journey get less focus, but it should not last for too long. It’s all about balance, especially not to burn out.

PART IV: COMMITMENT & FINANCES

34. Will this company be your primary activity? Do you have any other time commitments?
Yes, I can hold out financially till August, freelance gig, max. couple hours a week. Family lives in NL, which I will visit now and then. Relationship will live in Berlin with me. No plans for kids.

35. What is your expected time commitment right now? How do you see that changing in the next 6 months? 2 years?
60-70 hours a week, but 60 is a good baseline that I am aiming at. Should be like this for the next 6 months to 2 year.

36. What is your personal runway? Current burn rate? Would you invest your own money (ideally retaining higher equity in return)?
I have runway for 3 months more, after that freelance to sustain. I don’t want to invest my own money (did it before already). There are enough options out there to get investment, if you play it smart.

37. What is the minimum monthly salary you need to survive? To be comfortable? To feel like you’ve “made it”?
Survive: Net. 2500. Comfortable: 4500. Made it: 10K.

38. What should the policy of co-founders advising/consulting with other companies be?
It should be discussed up front, mostly looking at the impact of the growth. The default should be no, exceptionally a temporary other job if agreed upon.

PART V: TEAM CULTURE

39. Complete the sentence: It would make you proud to hear people describe this company’s culture as humane and ambitious.

40. What’s your philosophy on how to attract and retain great people? Tactically, how would we make this happen at our company?
I think having a crazy ambitious goal, a great product with interesting challenges and puzzles + a great team of founders, would attract great people. Every person has their own intrinsic motivation to go to work, our job is to find that and make sure that their fire keeps burning. We should promote our product + team + the person they can be if they join + maybe location where we work and how a normal day in the office looks like. Make them feel part of the product + team + involved.

41. What processes or techniques would you use to get the most out of your team?
1 on 1s, in-person workspace, celebrate achievements, give people autonomy + (enough) challenges, let them have direct impact on the decision making and give responsibility.

42. How much of your time do you hope to spend either working or socializing with coworkers?
5-8 hours socialising (1 hour break total per day, 3 hours Friday drinks), the rest work. I do want to get a personal connection with the team, as far as can be.

43. How important is diversity & inclusion? Concretely, how would you put that into action?
I think a good team will naturally get diverse. The best person should join, especially in the beginning.

PART VI: CO-FOUNDER RELATIONSHIP

44. Specifically, how are we going to prioritize and make time for our co-founder relationship as we get increasingly busy with company building?
Have 1on1s, talk openly/respectfully/honestly about problems, struggles, disappointments. This should be a planned session every week/month.

45. How would we resolve personal conflict between ourselves? How about stalemates?
Try to stay calm and respectful. “Assume good intent”. Get all the arguments on the table. Research the strength of arguments. The best argument should win. If a strong stalemate, we should get advice from a 3rd person or we “give and take” one.

46. In case this becomes part of our partnership’s evolution, how would you go about handling a startup divorce?
The terms of the divorce should be defined beforehand, contractually. Go over a lot of possible cases and align about, “what if one gets sick for X months”, “what if one needs to get out because of personal reasons” etc.

47. What happens in the scenario where we aren’t growing? How would we diagnose the problem?
Try to get back to the core, why aren’t we growing? Try to solve it with everything we have, pivot, talk to experts, talk to clients etc. Try to get everything out of it and in case there’s no improvement, we should have a deadline until we will dissolve the company.

48. In every partnership, there are times when a partner might breed resentment if certain dissatisfaction don’t change over time. How would you deal with a situation like this?
Address them as early as possible. Look for ways to come together, give and take. Is there hope for improvement? Try adopt and fix the dissatisfaction.

49. How would you think about bringing on a third (or N+1) co-founder?
If the product demands it, that’s fine. The more co-founders though, the more difficult the partnership becomes.

50. Wrap up question: Now we know each other’s weaknesses, passions, needs, and constraints — how are we going to make each other successful? What would it take to feel truly partnered in this adventure?
Try to get the best out of each other. Help each other out when necessary. Be strong when the other is week. Give time and space to grow and learn and enjoy the ride. Deepen our bond and ideally get on friendship level, so there’s more resilience, respect and we can hold out longer.

BONUS

What’s the harshest criticism you’ve received as a professional, and what did you change (or not) because of it?
One of the things I got in a feedback round from a peer, was that I might jump to conclusions sometimes to quickly. That it is more fruitful for a discussion to think about it, do your own research and have a well-formed opinion. Something I take with me and try to push into the right direction. When applying this I also notice that being in discussions, makes you feel more confident and make decisions quicker and better. I'm very aware of it and force myself to do my research.

What would make you quit this company?
Difficult to say since you also grow a certain "feeling" for your company and the people in it (which is not there now). The bar for leaving is really high, for me this is not only a passion, but also a long-term commitment. I can think of excruciating circumstances like a partner that gets ill, you get ill or a personal loss that would make me leave.

How do you want this company to change you as a person?
I have some things about myself I don't want it to change (empathy, caring, giving), as I am happy with those traits. The things I would like to change and grow in are more on the "functional" side. I hope I will grow in leadership and be more thoughtful about how I communicate and not jump to conclusions. I also can improve in focus and context switching. I would love to have a strong business person next to me to learn from and be inspired by, so I get better business/startup experience and skills.

What are your moral values/code of conduct? What’s immoral to you?
I try to be a good person to others around me and to this planet. Two strong guiding sentences come up:
1. Don't do things to people you also don't want them do to you
2. If you are 80 and look back on your life, will you be proud and happy about the things you did?

Immoral would be having egotistic or narcessistic characteristics. Another immoral act would be to make profit over planet or nature or the weaker once in society.

Which level of growth and speed should be the baseline? How do you define it?
I think we should push as hard as we can, especially in the beginning. This is where startups can shine. I would like to find some baseline in terms of how much we can bring to the table on a weekly basis, like amount of hours. If we both trust our speed and commimtment, it will become more about, putting the right amount of work in.

What do you do when the team can't match your energy or pace? How would you handle it?
Talk to the team, find out where it goes wrong. Is it really about the team not being fast enough (skills) or are there other p roblems?

Imagine we have a big opportunity, but the team will burn out if we push for it. Do we go for it or slow down?
I don't want to burn out the team, so I would look for solution outside of the team. External temporary hires or putting in mor e ours ourselves.

What’s the one/two/three thing(s) about me that worries you the most?