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Entrepreneurial couples and co-founding duos share a unique bond whether theyre bound by marriage or business. Their synergy often stems from shared passions, complementary skills, and the drive to build something meaningful. But the reality is that co-founding a business with someone romantic partner or not isnt always easy. From aligning strategic visions to juggling multiple responsibilities, the pressures of scaling a company can wear on even the strongest partnerships. Yet, entrepreneurial couples offer a blueprint for success precisely because their personal and professional lives are deeply intertwined. As such, they have to adapt, compromise, and communicate on a profound level, and any co-founding duo can learn valuable lessons from how these couples navigate the challenges that come their way while maintaining empathy for one another. Business partners, much like married couples, face a distinct set of hurdles that can test the very core of their relationship. In many ways, running a startup with someone mirrors the commitment of till death do us part. Youre tied together not just by formal agreements but also by the emotional investment you each bring to the table. Its not surprising, then, that up to 43% of startup founders ultimately buy out their co-founders due to interpersonal rifts and power struggles. After all, co-founding a business is essentially a marriage in its own right one sealed by a business license instead of a marriage license. Yet, when it works, it can be remarkable. In fact, teams with more than one founder outperform solo founders by an overwhelming 163%. One of the biggest pitfalls for co-founders, much like for couples, is misaligned vision. Whether youre running a household or running a company, there must be a shared sense of purpose and direction. Many disputes boil down to role ambiguity, unclear expectations, and competing definitions of success. If one partner aims for aggressive growth while the other prioritizes sustainable expansion, friction is inevitable. Communication breakdowns and power struggles often follow, which can leave each partner feeling unheard. Time and again, in my work with both entrepreneurial couples and co-founding duos, we see that a foundational alignment on key initiatives and a willingness to resolve conflict collaboratively go a long way toward fostering a healthy partnership. So, how exactly do entrepreneurial couples make it work, and what can every co-founder learn from them? Here are a few tips: Be proactive Dont wait until problems arise One of the biggest lessons we can learn from entrepreneurial couples is the importance of addressing potential pitfalls before they become major issues. Whether its clarifying roles or scheduling regular check-ins, proactive communication is the glue that holds a relationship together. Rather than assuming everything is fine, schedule structured time to discuss both strategic decisions and personal stressors. By surfacing small grievances early, you prevent them from snowballing into larger conflicts. Understand How Your Familial Dynamics Affect Your Leadership Style Our upbringing and family backgrounds shape not only how we relate to our loved ones but also how we lead, collaborate, and handle conflict. Perhaps you grew up in a home where disagreements were swept under the rug, or maybe you learned to be hyper-assertive just to have a say. These patterns can quickly resurface when the stakes are high in a co-founding situation. Entrepreneurial couples have an edge because theyre forced to recognize and often reconcile these familial tendencies on a daily basis. In my work with both couples and co-founders, Ive found that while the details of each therapy session may vary, the underlying principles remain the same: acknowledging deeply rooted family dynamics is the key to maintaining unity in any partnership. Identify your emotional triggers Even the most forward-thinking founders can falter if theyre not aware of the emotional triggers that fuel their reactions. Stress, fear, or insecurity can all ignite disproportionate responses. The first step is noticing the signs: a racing heartbeat, clenched fists, or a sudden urge to interrupt someone. Once you identify these red flags, you can practice pausing to breathe and reframing the situation. For entrepreneurial couples, this might mean stepping away to gather your thoughts, while for any co-founding duo, its about creating space for empathy and calm conversations. Create a strategic alignment plan Finally, business partners who take time to create a clear strategic alignment plan from outlining shared goals to defining individual roles set themselves up for smoother collaboration. This roadmap not only keeps you accountable but also helps you spot misalignments before they evolve into gaps that you cant reconcile. Entrepreneurial couples have to merge life plans and business ambitions in real time, so they often learn to break down goals into manageable steps and assign responsibilities based on each partners strengths. By taking a similar approach, youll enjoy a much more harmonious working relationship with your co-founder along the way. For entrepreneurs of any kind, remember that the strength of your relationships can make or break your success. Your most valuable asset isnt just the product or service you offer; its the people who help bring your vision to life. Invest in those partnerships first, and watch how every facet of your business thrives as a result.
Category:
E-Commerce
Are you suffering from Zoom fatigue?” Exhausted from being on video calls multiple times a week, or even every day? Well, it may be because you’re sick of looking at your own face, according to a new study. That study, from researchers at Michigan State University and published in the journal PLOS One, discovered that facial appearance dissatisfaction” could explain the weariness people are experiencing when using videoconferencing technology. Our increased reliance on virtual meetings in the workplace, especially with the rise of remote work, means we are spending a lot more time on camera, which has significant implications for workplace productivity and individual well-being, according to the researchers. Our study highlights that dissatisfaction with facial appearance contributes to Zoom fatigue, leading to reduced adoption of virtual meeting technologies,” said study author Chaeyun Lim of Michigan State University. The study also looked at impression management features, which are tools that enable users to adjust their self-video to manage their appearance, and found that dissatisfaction with facial appearance “also drives the use of impression management features, emphasizing the need to address worker well-being in virtual communication environments.” In other words, researchers found that individuals who didn’t like how they looked had more Zoom fatigue and saw virtual meetings as less useful, leading them to be less interested in adopting the technology. Taken together, the findings shed light on why some people are less likely to want to attend virtual meetings. The study involved 2,448 U.S.-based workers answering a 15-minute survey. The group included professional, technical, and scientific workers who worked remotely at least part of the time and regularly attended virtual meetings for work. It’s not the first study about negative feelings associated with virtual meetings. Another study from Austrian researchers in 2023 examined the effects of videoconferencing directly on the brain and heart. In that study, electrodes were stuck on the heads and chests of 35 students who took part in 50-minute lectures through videoconference and in person. According to the brain and heart readings, students had significantly greater levels of fatigue, drowsiness, negativity, and sadness, and less attention, after videoconferencing than after in-person lectures. So, what’s the solution? Individuals and organizations can adopt practices such as scheduling regular breaks, according to Graz University of Technology’s René Riedl, co-senior author of the Austrian study. Based on our research results, we recommend a break after 30 minutes, because we found that after 50 minutes of videoconferencing, significant changes in physiological and subjective fatigue could be observed. Moreover, utilizing features like speaker view to mitigate the intensity of perceived continuous eye contact could be helpful.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Brannock devicethat sliding metal gadget used in shoe stores to measure the dimensions of your feetwas invented 100 years ago this year. But footwear fitting hasnt really gotten more advanced since, says Dan Cataldi, founder and CEO of custom insole maker Groov. For most people, it still comes down to finding shoes by style and size, taking a few steps in them, and hoping for the best. And when it comes to insoles, the part of the shoe that you actually walk on, people with medical issues and professional athletes might get custom orthotic inserts fitted by a doctor, while most people make do with what comes in their shoes or, in a pinch, a cushioning insert from the drugstore.[Photo: Groov]Groov is designed to bridge that gap, using an app that lets customers scan their own feet and footwear at home with their iPhone cameras so it can build 3D models of their two feet and understand the shapes of their shoes. Then, the companys machine learning algorithms can design a variety of styles of insoles for each customer. For me, the whole notion of Groov is taking something that should exist within footwear and bringing it into footwear, Cataldi says. If youve got to go see a clinician, if youve got to make an appointment, thats not footwear.Options include the Plush, an everyday cushioning model designed for comfort, and a high elasticity model designed for athletes, known as the Response model. Here we replace the soft, shock-absorbing, low-elasticity cushion with a high-elasticity, more explosive cushion for a quick first step, and I blast off in each step, he says.Theres also the Luxe, a more discreet replacement for built-in insoles for shoes like high heels, designed to be thin enough to stick into the shoe without being visible when the shoes are worn.[Photo: Groov]Groov insoles typically arrive within a few days, engraved with the customers name or another chosen nickname. If customers want to order more or try another style, like switching from the regular cushioning model to the athletics-focused variety, they can do so from the app. Customers are likely to want to retake their scans every year or two, or if they have reason to believe something has changed in their feet, and they can scan new shoes or the shoes existing insoles to order Groov insoles adapted to a particular pair, Cataldi says. Key to the easy customization is the TrueDepth camera system in the iPhone thats used for FaceID logins. The camera projects, then captures, a grid of invisible infrared dots, used in the FaceID system to create a unique model of the face and by Groov to similarly understand the contours of the foot. [Image: Groov]What that enables us to do is bypass any need for a clinical visit if its a non-medical situation, and get all of the data with millimeter-level precision, he says.And replacing that clinical visit with a brief, at-home foot scan means reaching a wide audience whod simply never think of getting inserts from a doctor. After all, Cataldi says, his own father is a chiropractor who provides orthotic inserts for patients and wore them himself, but even as a young athlete, Cataldi thought the medicinal-seeming devices felt like overkill. From Groovs perspective, being able to create insoles on demand is also an advantage, since theres no inventory that has to sit around company warehouses or on retailer shelves. But the company did in December do pilot pop-ups in Nordstroms mens and womens departments in Manhattan, where Groov was able to scan dozens of customers feet in-store. Future retail collaborations may be in the works, Cataldi says, and the company is also in talks with footwear companies about potential partnerships. Deals with e-commerce companies to integrate the technology into their shopping experiences might also be in Groovs future, he says, and for now the company is promoting the technology through social media, with athletes and others already highlighting their use of the inserts on Instagram. Another happy customer, Cataldi says, is his own father. While he still advocates orthotic inserts for patients who need them, hes switched away from them himself.Now, he wears Groovs, Cataldi says.
Category:
E-Commerce
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