Meetup «Future Builders Meetup #6: Partner Matching»

   How do you find a co-founder who will go the distance — and check whether the two of you actually fit, right there in the room? The sixth Future Builders Meetup, «Partner Matching: Find Your Co-founder», pairs a guest talk with a workshop where participants team up.

   The meetup has been rescheduled: it was planned for 31 October with a storytelling theme and now takes place on Saturday, 7 November, on finding a co-founder.

   The guest is Hoàng Lê, founder of the FoundersUp community. In his 20-minute talk «Finding a Co-founder Who Lasts» he explains why many startups stall because the co-founders can no longer work together — before the product or the market has had a chance to fail — and covers three things to settle before you start building together:

• — complementary skills: one person handles tech, the other business and sales, so nobody steps on anyone’s toes and nothing is left uncovered;
• — shared values and vision: when the money runs out or a big risk comes up, will you choose the same direction;
• — equity and commitment: how to split equity transparently, and who works full-time or part-time.

   At the end he answers some of the questions sent in through the registration form. If you have a question about finding or working with a co-founder, put it there.

   Then comes a 40-minute workshop. You write down what you need from a partner and what you bring (Needs & Offers), then pair up with other participants; Hoàng Lê and a team of facilitators go from table to table to help anyone who gets stuck. Each pair gets 10 minutes to fill in a Fit Check Sheet with three questions:

• — what problem do you both want to solve;
• — how many hours a week can each of you put in;
• — what would make you stop working together (red flags).

   Future Builders Meetup is a monthly gathering of people building tech products in Vietnam, run by Unikorn together with ITviec. You can come with a product, an MVP or just an idea, and non-coders who know a problem in their industry well are welcome too.

   Attendance is free with registration on Unikorn’s event page. Bring the question you have not been able to answer — no slides needed.