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Especially working with friends is dangerous.

Many friends wanted to start something with me, but I never gave in.

They did so with each other and it never worked out. No big fails, but still it was a quite sobering when the alpha of the group turned out to be only words and looks.

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The problem with friends is the built in assumptions. A mentor (who has started and sold multiple companies, some successful some not) told me to always spell everything out in writing with your partners/founders. It's even more important if doing something with friends because of assumptions. Money and stress shows who people really are.

Perhaps that's true. A startup will put your friendship through a crucible, and at the end, whether success or failure, if they are still there for you, you know they were a true friend. And true friends are the people you want to go into business with. We need to think of startups as a repeat game with multiple iterations. The optimal strategy is to cooperate, not defect. Your first startup does not need to be a success, but a great tool for finding worthy collaborators.

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