"Growth affects cofounders differently. One person thrives on the chaos, and the other starts waking up anxious. Research on stress physiology shows people react differently to the same stressors. Some people perceive situations as challenges and show more efficient cardiovascular responses, while others appraise the same situations as threats and show elevated cortisol and less adaptive physiological patterns. When cofounders don't possess this information, they misread each other's behavior as lack of commitment rather than different wiring."
"Why this creates crisis: Roles that were fluid become rigid. The technical cofounder who handled everything now needs to specialize or scale as a manager. The business founder discovers their "founder mode" leadership style fails with 20+ people. Often, one cofounder accelerates while the other plateaus. The CEO develops sophisticated management skills through investor meetings, while the technical founder stays focused on one domain. These development gaps create resentment."
Most cofounders can benefit from professional support, but three situations create psychological pressures where coaching becomes necessary for survival. Rapid scaling after significant funding often breaks partnerships as fluid roles become rigid; technical cofounders must specialize or scale as managers while business founders' "founder mode" leadership fails with 20+ people. Growth affects cofounders differently due to stress physiology: some appraise situations as challenges with efficient cardiovascular responses while others appraise them as threats with elevated cortisol and less adaptive patterns. Lack of awareness leads to misreading behaviors as lack of commitment, creating development gaps, resentment, and recurring arguments that impede scaling. Two fintech founders at Series B found consensus decision-making failed with 25 employees, risking the company's ability to scale.
Read at Psychology Today
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