I am surprised that I'm the first person in an hour to say this: I clicked on the link to SpeakerText and it sure looks like a functioning company to me.<p>I remember when you started posting a lot, and I've always enjoyed your words. I'm just confused, because reading this feels like someone tore about three chapters from my copy of the book.<p>TL;DR: if SpeakerText is dead, then why is the site open for business?
Hell yes. I think the ideal founders are siblings or <i>very</i> old friends; The kinds of people who could never cut each other out of their lives no matter how mad they were at each other. I've come to the conclusion that you're asking for a lot of trouble in accepting anything less than that.
When you work long and hard with anyone you will come to have truly justified and serious issues with them.<p>The question to ask yourself is, would you have looked passed those issues if you had been successful? If you would have, then you should be just as quick to look passed them in failure.
I remember visiting you guys when you were all living and working together in that small apartment with the pool. You were awesome.<p>Give it some time, you will regain trust in a new cofounder you will run into, and you will drink beer again with your old cofounders.
One of the most interesting questions in the whole single founder v.s. co-founder debate, is how having a co-founder profoundly impacts your personal net gain from a given start-up venture.<p>The way I see it, taking on a co-founder is a form of start-up insurance. You increase your overall chance of success by giving up a huge portion of the upside in that eventuality.<p>It makes sense that a VC would prefer companies that have more than one founder if they believe it increases their statistical chance of success. Just understand that this may come at the expense of your personal gain, which is of minimal concern to an outside investor.
I'm sorry for your experience and loss. I'm sitting here working with my co-founder right now and I couldn't imagine going at it alone. I know people that have lost friends because things have gone bad, but I think the potential to do something great is worth the risk more often than not.
I met one of you guys on the Muni, going down Market, my first day in San Francisco. Can't remember what your name was. Hope you're able to patch things up and keep going, because it sounded like such a bad ass idea.