What I Look for in a Business Partner
No secrets, no shortcuts — only shared weight, aligned values, and the kind of trust that survives pressure.
I’ve had partners who lifted with me, and I’ve had partners who vanished when things got heavy. Over time, I learned to stop asking only, “Are they talented?” and start asking a harder question:
Can they carry their cross when the business gets heavy?
I look for honesty, delayed gratification, respect for the grind, and the ability to keep showing up when the excitement fades. Books over brunch. Strategy over hype. Discipline over personality.
If someone is not obsessed with learning, and they flinch when things get hard, we probably will not last as partners.
Ideas are easy. Execution takes people.
But not just any people. The right business partner can take your vision and multiply it. The wrong one will drain your energy, kill momentum, and leave you rebuilding from scratch.
I’ve experienced both. That is why I do not choose partners based only on excitement, friendship, résumés, or big talk. I choose based on pressure.
It is not about the résumé.
I do not care only where someone went to school, what title they had, or how polished they sound in a meeting. Experience matters, but it is not the full story.
I care about how they think when things go wrong. I care about what they do when no one is watching. I care about whether they finish what they start.
Startups and small businesses live in chaos. I need someone who can stay steady inside it.
My 5 non-negotiables
How I test this in real life.
I give small tasks with unclear paths and watch how they move. Do they freeze? Do they ask smart questions? Do they disappear? Do they come back with options?
I ask about their biggest failure and listen carefully to how they tell the story. Do they blame everyone else, or do they own their part?
I go slow before going fast. Anyone can show up during the honeymoon phase. I want to know who they are in month six, when the novelty is gone and the work is still there.
Red flags I’ve learned the hard way
- “Let’s split 50/50 before we’ve built anything.”
- “I’m all in… once I get back from vacation.”
- Ghosting during conflict.
- Big talk, no calendar invites.
- Always available for the vision, never available for the work.
The right partner is not a mirror.
I do not want someone who agrees with everything I say. That is not partnership. That is comfort.
The right partner challenges me, sharpens the plan, sees blind spots, and still shows up the next morning ready to build. They do not need to think exactly like me. In fact, it is better when they do not. But the values have to match.
The right partner is not a mirror. They are a multiplier.
Choose partners like you choose life rafts: carefully, and with both eyes open.
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