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My old boss in Austin said to never hire friends, and after my co-founder's cousin nearly sank our launch with a missed deadline, I finally get it.
He missed a key software update for our beta test in March, forcing us to delay by two weeks and costing us about $5k in extra marketing spend to reset the buzz. How do you handle setting clear rules with people you're close to when you bring them into the business?
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miles_hall1mo ago
Ever think about just writing everything down before they even start? I mean, I had a buddy help me with a side project once and we almost fell out over something dumb like who was paying for the cloud storage. We didn't write it down, just assumed, and it got messy. Maybe it's just me but now I make a stupidly simple one page doc that says who does what and when money gets talked about. It feels awkward at first but it saves the friendship later.
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allen.kai1mo ago
Honestly that "write everything down" advice from @miles_hall sounds good on paper but it kills the vibe. If you're bringing in a friend or family member, it's because you trust them, right? A one page doc feels like you're expecting them to mess up before they even start. The real fix is just talking like adults more often, not making it a legal thing. That missed deadline sucks, but a simple convo about how bad it hurt the project probably would've worked better than a rulebook. Too much formal stuff can ruin the exact trust you wanted in the first place.
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the_thea1mo ago
But @miles_hall is right, a simple doc sets the vibe from the start so you can actually relax and trust each other!
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