ENTREPRENEURS TOP COMMON MISTAKES (1) - Co-founding with the wrong partner.

When you are ready to start a new venture, you should consider very carefully the possibility of sharing your project with someone else. Co-founding has several advantages versus starting up alone, although the selection of your co-founder becomes a critical task.

Co-founding allows you to increase your initial startup capital. You can also look for someone whose skills complement yours. Co-founding with the correct partner generates a team work spirit which will be very beneficial during the first phase of your project. Your partner will be always ready to back you up in the case that you have any problem during this critical step.

When looking for your co-founder you can consider the following advice:

Make sure your personalities and skills are compatible.

Probably the most important attribute that you have to find is compatibility. You do not want to partner with someone who you can't get along easily with and you want to make sure that you share the same vision for your new company.

Define as early as possible how to share the equity.

You need to think about how much of the company you want to give to your co-founder. There is not a clear formula when determining how much equity you should give. It will be very dependent on what you really need from your partner and what she has to offer.

Consider a vesting schedule if possible.

When you offer a share to a co-founder, you can utilize stock options. This person doesn't receive the options immediately, but rather on a vesting schedule. She will receive a portion the first year, more the second year and so on.

Startup shares usually vest over a period of four years which means that you and your co-founder are making a long-term commitment.

Headstart Foundation, a non-profit focused on fostering entrepreneurship, has created a database, which helps entrepreneurs to identify potential co-founders. It now has more than 600 entrepreneurs registered with it. Arpit Agarwal, a director at Headstart, believes it is important to write down a co-founder agreement that includes each founder's stake and specifies what happens if a founder leaves.

Most investors are now pushing for a clear definition of stakes and roles to help deal with disagreements or break-ups.

Finding the correct co-founder may be a hard task.

Make sure you finally chose someone who you can definitely trust.