Conflict among co-founders causes 65% of high-potential firms to fail, says book by Harvard professor

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Harvard Business School professor Noam Wasserman writes in his book “The Founder’s Dilemma” that 65 percent of high-potential firms fail due to disputes among co-founders, laying bare some painful truths that all founders encounter at a pivotal point in business.

Wasserman says it should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever attempted to establish a business.

It’s been said that the best time to start a business is before you start constructing when the possibilities are endless. Wasserman’s argument is that the reasons for the conflict can be as varied and unique as the co-founders, and the most obvious reason is when one is attempting to merge two or more sets of ideals, values, perspectives, motivations, and a dozen other intangible, immeasurable qualities into one.

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According to the author, one should not get deceived into thinking that just because one is on the same page during the brainstorming process with the co-founder/s, they are immune to the pitfalls of startup life, as there’s still no way one is entirely aligned across all of the business’s important elements. Offering a reason for this, he says when one co-founder is bringing something unique to the table, there still could be minor misalignments that might become troublesome after a certain period of time.

He further explains in the book that if misalignment is the issue, then the remedy must be alignment, and that alignment is one of those clichés that even a high-priced consultant does not offer a clear method to achieve it.