2020-03-01 Entrepreneur Magazine

(Sean Pound) #1
16 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / March 2020 Illustration / PETE RYAN

Six Ways


Who Breaks the Tie?


How do cofounders settle disagreements when they have an equal say in the business?
Six entrepreneurs share their methods.

3 / Rely on your
relationship.
“My husband is my
cofounder, which
adds another level
of complexity we’ve
learned to turn into an
advantage: Marriage
and parenting require
micro problem-solving
on the daily, so most
of the time, we’re in a
flow that feels more or
less automatic. It’s a
balancing act of know-
ing when to lean on
the other, and knowing
when it’s meaningful to
stand your ground. Our
number one rule? Don’t
take things personally!” 
—JAIME SCHMIDT,
cofounder, Schmidt’s
Naturals 

4 / Trust the
numbers.
“My cofounder, Michael
[Wieder], and I both
have strong opinions,
so when starting Lalo,
we wrote a list clearly
defining our roles and
responsibilities—and
we revisit this list every
quarter. It’s allowed us
to figure out who is the
ultimate decision maker
if we can’t come to
an agreement. And
whenever possible,
we rely heavily on data
and let the numbers
break the tie.”
—GREG DAVIDSON,
cofounder and
CEO, Lalo

2 / Turn to your team.
“We’ve built a
highly experienced
executive team—
VP of operations, VP
of construction, VP of
finance—to help us
settle disagreements
and differences.
They’re our tiebreaker.
This allows us to spend
less time bickering and
more time on strategy.”
—PAUL ALTERO,
cofounder,
Bubbakoo’s Burritos

5 / Ditch the
emotions.
“We’re complementary
opposites, a yin-and-
yang partnership. While
that sounds lovely,
in reality it means we
approach problem
solving from two dif-
ferent angles and have
to work together to
objectively come to an
agreed decision. We
try to avoid the ‘I’m
right, you’re wrong’
argument. It’s important
to pause, listen, and
communicate from an
unemotional place,
and—knock on wood—
it usually works out.”
—BRIAN BORDAINICK,
cofounder, Starface

6 / Get loud.
“Leslie [Barron] and I
have been business
partners for 15 years,
and it’s true that a
business partnership
is akin to being in a
marriage; you have
to make concessions
and compromises. So
when conflicts arise,
we always sit down,
listen to each other,
and, yes, argue. That’s
the thing—it’s OK to
argue and debate so
that ultimately, we find
out who is more pas-
sionate about the issue
at hand. Essentially, the
loudest bark wins!”
—AMY REED,
cofounder, Woofie’s

1 / Focus on the “yes.”
“When we started our
business, we discussed
our strengths and inter-
ests and decided that if
we couldn’t resolve
an issue, I would have
51 percent ownership
over the finances and
my cofounder, Christiana
[Coop], would have
51 percent ownership
over design. But we also
agreed to discuss our dif-
ferences in opinion, and
for more than 11 years,
we haven’t had to play
our ‘ownership card.’ Our
default is that if we both
can’t get to yes on some-
thing, we pass.”
—AIMEE LAGOS,
cofounder,
Hygge & West
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