Finding a technical cofounder, or starting without one

To find a technical cofounder, start with your own network, engineering schools, incubators, developer communities and cofounder matching platforms, then test the partnership on a short real project before you split any equity. And ask one question before you even start looking: do you need one right now? Many business software products sold online can launch without a technical cofounder, using a prototype and an external team, and bring in a CTO once the product has found its customers.

This article covers both paths: finding the right cofounder, with the legal precautions that come with it, or starting without one in a way that keeps the door open for a CTO later.

Do you need a technical cofounder right now?

A technical cofounder is essential in some situations and an expensive luxury in others.

A cofounder shares equity, decisions and risk for years. Searching in a hurry because "every startup needs a CTO" often leads to a poor match, which is far harder to undo than a supplier contract. We compare the other options (fractional CTO, studio, freelancer) in fractional CTO or development studio.

Where to look

• Your professional network. Former colleagues and developers you have already worked with are the safest bet, because you know how they work.
• Engineering schools and alumni groups. Many run incubators, entrepreneurship clubs and directories.
• Incubators and accelerators. They often introduce founders with complementary profiles.
• Developer communities. Meetups, conferences, open source projects: you see people work, not just talk.
• Cofounder matching platforms. Y Combinator, for example, runs a free cofounder matching platform that is open to anyone looking for a cofounder, not only the companies it funds.

What attracts a strong engineer is not an idea; it is evidence that customers care. Bring interview notes, letters of intent or a prototype you have shown to prospects. Our guide to launching a B2B SaaS as a non-technical founder covers that validation step.

How to test a future cofounder

Before splitting equity, work together on something real and short: a prototype, one feature, a round of customer interviews. Watch how the other person makes decisions, communicates and keeps commitments. Then talk openly about the uncomfortable topics:

• Time: full-time or evenings and weekends, and from when?
• Money: who can go without a salary, and for how long?
• Roles: who decides what, and who has the final word in a deadlock?
• Ambition: build a lasting company, sell it, raise money?
• Exit: what happens if one of you stops in a year?

Disagreeing on these points is not a deal-breaker if it comes out now. It becomes one when it surfaces in the middle of a funding round.

How to split equity

There is no official percentage. The split depends on each founder's commitment, contributions, risk and, above all, the work still ahead. Michael Seibel of Y Combinator argues in a 2015 essay for equal or near-equal splits between founders, because most of the work is in the future.

The same essay describes what makes that generosity safe: vesting. A typical Silicon Valley schedule runs four years with a one-year cliff, so a founder who leaves within the first year keeps nothing, and the rest is earned month by month. A cofounder who walks away after six months does not walk away with half the company.

How vesting is implemented legally differs from one country to another: restricted shares with a repurchase right in some jurisdictions, clauses in a shareholders' agreement in others, such as France. Use a local startup lawyer rather than copying a template from another legal system.

The founders' agreement

The founders' agreement (or shareholders' agreement) is the document that protects both sides. It usually sits alongside the company's articles and covers matters such as:

For a technical cofounder, add one more topic: intellectual property. Code written before the company existed, or by a founder who is not an employee, does not automatically belong to the company in every jurisdiction. In France, for instance, the law only vests software rights in the employer automatically for software written by employees in the course of their duties (Article L113-9 of the French Intellectual Property Code). A written IP assignment from each founder to the company is standard practice, and investors will ask for it. Our article on who owns custom software source code explains why this matters.

Cofounder, employee with equity, or supplier

Stock options let you bring an engineer into the capital without making them a founder. Each country has its own schemes. In France, for example, the BSPCE scheme is reserved for joint-stock companies registered less than 15 years ago, subject to French corporate tax and other conditions, according to Bpifrance Création. Your accountant or lawyer will confirm what applies to you.

Starting without a cofounder: prototype first

If you cannot find the right person yet, or if your product does not need a technical cofounder, you can still move forward, in this order:

1. Validate the problem with companies in your target market.
2. Get a visual prototype of the main journey and show it to prospects. It is also the best way to convince a future cofounder: they see a product, not a pitch.
3. Have a first version built by an external team, checking your rights over the code and access to documentation.
4. Bring in a CTO later, as an employee or cofounder, once the product has customers and the company can attract one.

At LPR Studio, the visual prototype is free and presented over video within 5 working days. It remains ours: it is presented, not delivered. What follows is a fixed-price build, a subscription or SaaS publishing, and code rights are defined case by case in the contract. Our article on prototype vs MVP vs POC explains what a prototype is for and where it stops.

Preparing for the day a CTO joins

Starting without a technical cofounder only makes sense if a CTO can later take over the product without rewriting it. When that person arrives, as an employee or a cofounder, they will want to find:

• access to the code, within the rights set out in the contract, with a full change history;
• documentation of the architecture, the deployment process and the important decisions, with the reasons behind them;
• automated tests, so they can change the code without fear of breaking what already works;
• accounts in the company's name for hosting, the domain and the payment provider.

Ask for these in your first contract with any external team, and check them at every delivery. They are also what an investor will look at during due diligence: a documented product reassures far more than one that merely works.

Common mistakes

• Promising equity without writing it down. A verbal promise of "a big share for the CTO" turns into a dispute as soon as there is value to divide.
• Making someone a cofounder for a one-off need. If you need an MVP, not a co-leader, a supplier contract fits better than a slice of the company.
• Forgetting code written before incorporation. Get it assigned in writing, or an investor will flag it during due diligence.
• Choosing for skills alone. A brilliant engineer who does not share your pace, values or ambition will be a difficult partner for years.
• Waiting for the perfect cofounder before starting. Meanwhile, nobody is talking to customers.