Just got laid off, finally going to take the leap and pursue an idea I’ve had for awhile with a good friend of mine.
5 answers from the community
Be careful about starting a company with a friend. Usually that turns out to be a mistake.
Make sure that his shares have a vesting schedule, or else he might own half the company and then leave when things get tough, which means that he'll still keep his half if things start to go right.
Make sure that he only earns his shares based on how long he's stayed and on how much he contributes.
Came here to warn this. I've lost good friends by starting a business with them.
That is awesome and good luck.
OP here. Gaming industry is rough, especially MMO development. We were on a team that's releasing a AAA title soon (if you know the industry, I'm sure you can guess). Sucks to get cut loose right before launch after years of hard work. I know the execs weren't exactly happy with new projected numbers and I think it's just time to get out of mmo development space. So now we're going to try our own thing (social mobile gaming) where we aren't constantly at risk of being let go on the whims of a fickle industry. Good luck to anyone else out there thinking about doing the same!
I started a business with a friend and fellow engineer. Two take-aways: 1) make sure your friend is 100% motivated to make the business succeed and the idea, and 2) never ever ever use your 401K/retirement nest egg to fund your start-up.
My friend who joined me as a Founder left the our previous company not so much because he believed in my idea, but because he was totally burned out and just wanted to flee. I gave him an escape route. And while he did great work and we are still friends, not having him totally aligned was bad for him and the business.
And on the second, for God's sake never ever even think about that. Your start-up will fail and you'll owe the IRS a big bag of money, and you'll have blown your future retirement. Just don't go there. If the market and funders won't validate your idea with money, then it's not the right time. If I could go back in time and bitch-slap myself with common sense on this I would in a heart-beat. :-)