Venture Stories

On this episode of Venture Stories, Erik is joined by Lee Jacobs (@leejacobs), partner at Edelweiss Capital. He recently wrote a great post about breaking up with his co-founder at a previous company. Lee and Erik discuss the post, some of the thorny issues around co-founder relationships, and investing strategy more broadly.Lee tells the story of the startup he co-founded and how he came to realize that he and the company needed to part ways. He talks about what he did well in the situation, including getting third-party coaching, and what he would do differently next time. Lee’s former co-founder was one of his groomsmen at Lee’s wedding, so in his case things worked out for the best in the long-run.He talks about how to avoid blowing up your startup via a "co-founder breakup" and why open and honest communication is so important. They talk about having a “startup prenup” between the co-founders, how to pick a co-founder, and why these relationships are analogous to other types of non-work relationships.The