“You don't have to be friends with your co-founders. You definitely do not want your company to be a family… When friends start a company together, they often fail because they put the friendship ahead of the business… And ultimately, they end up protecting the friendship until the business fails. And then the destruction of the business destroys the friendship too.”
Young and Profiting with Hala Taha (Entrepreneurship, Sales, Marketing) · October 2026
Hala Taha describes two co-founders who have built a business together for seven years and trust each other, but aren't friends. Grant says that is a healthy "ally" bond, and cites research by Noam Wasserman on friend-founded startups avoiding the hard conversations.
Transcript
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…They divide responsibilities well. They always have each other's backs professionally, but they rarely socialize. They know little about each other's personal lives. They wouldn't choose to vacation together. One of them worries their partnership lacks chemistry because they aren't friends.
…to be pals or companions with you. And at some level, it's easier because I think about, for example, Hala, Noam Wasserman's written about this in his research. There's a common phenomenon where when friends start a company together, they often fail because they put the friendship ahead of the business. And so they're afraid to have difficult conversations. They don't want to cause conflict. And ultimately, they end up protecting the friendship until the business fails. And then the destruction of the business destroys the friendship too. And so I think being just allies is a perfectly reasonable and sometimes even healthier way to operate.
Yeah. And it still can mean that you support each other. You attend birthdays and weddings and like you can still support one another, but not necessarily be so like intimate in each other's personal lives.
Well put. I should have said that. Much more succinct.
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