A shared idea can hold very different expectations about authority, money, pace, risk and exit.
Make room to examine the partnership as well as the business. Name what each of you means while there is room to choose what comes next.
Why founders choose it
What it changes.
Make the expectations explicit.
Say what each of you means by authority, money, pace, risk and exit, and settle the differences while there is still room to choose.
Before the moments that test it.
Raising capital, a new co-founder, a change of roles, a serious disagreement: the partnership is easier to examine before these than during them.
Each founder speaks freely.
Private preparation comes first. Nothing is shared with a co-founder, investor or board without each founder’s choice.
A record you can return to.
The charter records what you decided and who owns it, and The Co-Founder Covenant stays with you for the next season.
A moment worth preparing for
The venture changes.
Revisit the understanding.
Before raising capital. When roles change. Before another founder joins. After a serious disagreement, or simply as an annual practice.
The question is what these founders understand and choose now: the company they want to build, the responsibilities they can carry and what still needs discussion.
A prepared conversation
From private reflection
to a shared record.
- 01 / Before
Each founder prepares.
A private questionnaire explores direction, roles, decision rights, money, pace and exit. Each person marks key agreements as clear, unclear, differently understood or not yet discussed.
- 02 / Together
A Director (the person who leads a Practice engagement) holds the conversation.
Selected exercises from The Co-Founder Covenant support a half-day on video or a full day in person. The charter is read back to the room. You may pass or keep a question open.
- 03 / After
Keep what you have chosen.
The Alignment Charter records decisions, owners and commitments. The Relational Map (the shared picture the Director draws for a team or a couple) and included Co-Founder Covenant workbook provide material to revisit.
Make expectations discussable
Eight areas.
Your own answers.
The questionnaire identifies where your understandings meet and where a conversation is needed.
- Equity and vesting
- Intellectual property
- Roles and authority
- Compensation
- Capital
- Deadlock
- A founder leaving
- Selling the company
Settings & scope
A format that
fits your partnership.
- Virtual half-day · two or three founders
- Fees by proposal.
- In person · at your site
- Fees by proposal.
- Wine country · through Terroir Trails
- Fees by proposal.
The workbook is included. Founding partners are scoped in a proposal. We talk first, without a fee.
Can our investor or board sponsor it?
Yes, but sponsorship gives neither access to private reflections nor control over the reading. Roles, audience and permissions are agreed before anyone begins. Each founder must be free to decline or speak.
Can there be just two of us?
Yes.
Is this mediation?
No. A current dispute may need counsel or a mediator. The first conversation considers whether this practice is appropriate for your situation.
Begin with the situation
Tell us what needs
attention.
We’ll explore the right setting, depth of preparation and scope for your partnership. We talk first, without a fee.
Discuss your partnership’s needsScope and fees are confirmed before booking.