Ep 1.1 • From Childhood Friends to Co-Founders | BuildBetter's Spencer (CEO) & Nikhil (CTO)

Spencer Shulem, Nikhil Shinday, and Adam Stanford are co-founders of BuildBetter.

After a decade working in and around startups, Spencer and Adam started BuildBetter in 2020. Soon after, Spencer brought in his childhood friend, Nikhil, as a third co-founder and CTO. Since then, they’ve secured millions in funding from leading investors like Wing, Tidal, Surface, Village Global, and OnDeck, and Telegraph Hill Capital and made thousands of product teams around the globe more efficient.

But those are the only business stats you’ll see today. Instead, our conversation with Spencer and Nikhil focuses exclusively on the relational-side of venture building: the co-founder relationship. How did trust and respect evolve? Who owns what in the company? What's the essence of being a co-founder? And of course, what are the juiciest conflicts and how are they resolved?

In our conversation, we discuss:

• When is it right to found a company with a close friend - the risks and the rewards

• Adding a third co-founder to an existing founding team and build equal trust

• The benefits of a co-founder relationship coach

• How they managed one of the team’s biggest disagreements

• What it means to be a co-founder (at BuildBetter)

• How to have fun while building a business (e.g., using memes in Slack to define roles)

Where to find Spencer, Nikhil & BuildBetter:

• BuildBetter • buildbetter.ai • twitter.com/BuildBetterAI • https://www.linkedin.com/company/71029926 • dribbble.com/BuildBetterApp

• Spencer, CEO & Co-Founder: linkedin.com/in/spshulem

• Nikhil, CTO & Co-Founder: twitter.com/nikhillin_it • linkedin.com/in/nikhil-shinday-24255266

Where to find Annie Garofalo, host & startup team relationship expert:

Website: confidante.info • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annie-garofalo/• Newsletter: confidante.substack.com • X: twitter.com/anniegarofal0 • Instagram: instagram.com/thecofounderconfidante • TikTok: tiktok.com/@the.cofounder.confidante

In this episode, we cover:

[00:00:00] Episode Highlights

[00:00:43] Welcome to How I Met My Co-Founder

[00:01:12] Meet the Co-Founders of BuildBetter

[00:02:09] BuildBetterTeam Origin Story

[00:04:52] Joining as a Third Co-Founder

[00:07:19] Building Trust as a New Addition to the Founding Team

[00:11:14] What Does It Mean to Be a Co-Founder?

[00:13:50] Defining Roles and Responsibilities (and Memes)

[00:17:18] How to Talk through the Hard Stuff

[00:18:55] Hiring a Co-Founder Relationship Coach

[00:24:24] Loneliness as a Founder

[00:26:23] The Biggest Conflict in Recent History

[00:33:17] The Importance of Disagreeing and Committing

[00:34:44] Advice for Early Stage Founding Teams

[00:36:46] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

References & Resources:

• The Sound Relationship House: “Love Mapping” for Co-Founders: confidante.substack.com/p/the-sound-relationship-house-for-cofounders

• The Importance of Co-Founder Relationship Coaching: confidante.info/for-startups

• Theravada Buddhism and Awakening: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4054695/

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