🧳 What Are the Chances Your Co-Founder Leaves the Project?
Imagine starting a startup with your buddy or partner. There’s always a chance they might leave—for any number of reasons. 📉 To shed light on this, the team at Carta analyzed data on over 13,000 founders from startups launched between 2015 and 2024. Here's what they found:
Key Insights:
1️⃣ The study focuses on US startups that raised investments, all of which were subject to vesting (learn more here). Vesting ensures founders earn their equity over 4 years, which acts as a retention incentive.
2️⃣ In the first year, the percentage of co-founders leaving has doubled over time, growing from 4% to 7.5%.
3️⃣ By the fourth year, the likelihood of a co-founder leaving reaches 25%. 💼
Cultural Differences:
In the US, vesting discourages early exits.
In other countries where vesting isn’t as common, the likelihood of a co-founder leaving during the early years may be even higher.
Additional Note:
This data includes only startups that continued operating after a co-founder’s departure. If a co-founder left and the startup collapsed, those cases weren’t counted.
Takeaway:
At the beginning, you and your partner may share the same passion and drive to disrupt the market. But the possibility of your co-founder leaving is far from zero. Be prepared—mentally and strategically—for this scenario. 🧠✅
#Startups 🚀 #CoFounders 🤝 #FounderExit 📉 #Vesting 💼 #Entrepreneurship 🌟 #StartupCulture 🌐 #TeamBuilding 🛠️ #BusinessStrategy 📊 #FounderStatistics 🔍 #CartaAnalysis 📈
Senior Principal Engineer, R&D (M.Eng.Sc, CPhys.MInstP, PMP), Alcon Seed Fund, Connecting People & Ideas
4moWell done 👍