“Find a co-founder with complementary skills” is the biggest f*cking lie in startups.
Yeah, I said it.
Every advice thread, every startup blog, every VC panel parrots the same thing:
👉 “You need one hacker, one hustler, one hipster.”
👉 “You code, they sell.”
👉 “Balance your yin and yang.”
Bullsh*t.
You don’t need “complementary skills.”
You need shared obsession. Same standards. Same war mindset.
Let me tell you what happens when you optimize for “skills” instead of values:
↳ One wants to grind, the other wants to vibe
↳ One wants to launch, the other wants to polish pixels
↳ One wants to sell, the other wants to read yet another startup book
And then it breaks. Fast.
What actually works?
↳ You both want to win more than you want to sleep
↳ You both run toward pain, not away from it
↳ You both take feedback like a punch and ask for another
↳ You both do the f*cking work
Skills can be learned.
Grit can't.
Discipline can't.
Complementary skills don't build great companies.
Aligned character does.
Stay sharp.
Choose your foxhole partner like your life depends on it. Because it does.
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