65% of startups fail because co-founders can't get along. Well, we’re happy to consider ourselves in the 35% of those that do. I never planned to interview my own co-founder on this show. But here we are!!! Here's the backstory: @BlakeHudelson and I met at Atomic, a startup studio in San Francisco. A mutual contact introduced us and something clicked. So I did what any totally reasonable person would do… I suggested we work on 3 *companies at the same time* to see what sticks. Blake said yes. Which tells you everything about him. That was six years and roughly a thousand late-night calls ago. We've been through near-death moments, leadership changes that hurt, a Covid basement where I may or may not have screamed into a wall, and more pivots than either of us likes to count. We finally landed on @BoomPopHQ's direction in 2023 and haven't looked back. This episode gets real and raw on our co-founder dynamic and some lessons we’ve learned that hopefully you can apply to your own co-founder relationships (or really ANY relationship, professional or otherwise). Blake tells you exactly what drives him crazy about me (including a habit of mine he's named the "super poop"). I'll admit what I should have done differently. And we share the stuff we genuinely wish someone had told us in year one. What we get into: - The one exercise every co-founding pair should do in their first 30 days - Why our most important pivotal moments have always come from our disagreements - What we learned from hiding problems from our team (spoiler: don't) - The difference between a co-founder who complements you vs. one who mirrors you - How radical transparency became the most powerful thing we ever did for our culture New episode of Don't Be a Jerk with my co-founder Blake Hudelson is live now everywhere you get your podcasts!!!