When I was searching for a co-founder to help me run Okta, I came up with three rules: (1) don’t go into business with a close friend (2) don’t settle for a stranger and (3) choose someone you don’t mind spending as much time as you do with your wife (sorry, Roxanne). These three guidelines eventually led me to my co-founder and Okta COO, Frederic Kerrest. Frederic and I had both worked at Salesforce.com for years, but not together — I was the head of engineering and he worked in various roles across the sales and business development groups. We had a similar list of references and, after insisting we go out to dinner, my wife approved. The rest is history, more or less.
当我准备寻找一名联合创始人帮我经营Okta时，我确定了三条原则：(1) 不要与好朋友一起做生意；(2) 不找陌生人；(3)不介意与合伙人在一起的时间，和陪妻子的时间一样多。这三条原则最终帮助我找到了联合创始人、Okta首席运营官弗雷德里克•克里斯特。我和弗雷德里克都在Salesforce.com工作过许多年，但我们不属于一个团队，我是工程部的负责人，他在销售和业务开发部门担任过多个职务。我们拥有一个类似的推荐人名单，在我的坚持下，我妻子终于同意一起外出吃晚饭。最终，我们一同发展。

从我的职业发展和创业经历来看，我认为选择合伙人需要考虑以下三点：

Don’t put your friendship to the test
别让朋友之谊陷入困局

Running a company with a friend is a surefire way to end a friendship. When I first had the idea for Okta, I briefly considered bringing on one of my close friends from Salesforce.com, but I knew that when we ran into issues — if we couldn’t raise funding, if we disagreed on how to build the product, or most importantly, if we foresaw different futures for the company — the pressure would be too much for us to withstand. On the other hand, if things went well, our friendship would evolve into an entirely professional relationship.
与朋友一起经营一家公司，是最有可能结束一段友谊的方式之一。最初创业的时候，我曾考虑过邀请Salesforce.com的一位好朋友一起创业，但我知道当我们遇到问题的时候，比如，如果我们无法获得资金，或者在产品设计上产生分歧，最重要的是，如果我们对公司未来的构想产生分歧，这种压力将是我们难以承受的。而另一方面，如果公司发展顺利，我们的友谊也会变成纯粹的职业关系。

Frederic and I started as business partners, and because of that we’re able to approach issues and important decisions with fewer emotions. For example, when we raised our first round of funding, we had to pick between two attractive offers — looking back, it was one of those “every decision is a good decision” situation, but realistically, we knew it would have a huge impact on the future of the company and we could feel the pressure. Instead of feeding off each other’s emotions, we looked at the offers rationally and based our decision on hours of thoughtful deliberations. That dynamic wouldn’t be the same among good friends.
我和弗雷德里克最初便是商业合伙人的身份，正因为这一点，我们在处理问题和做出重要决策的时候，不会掺杂太多的感情因素。例如，在进行首轮融资时，我们接到了两个有吸引力的要约，我们只能二选一。现在回想起来，当时的情况是“任何一个决定都是好的决定”，但我们知道，这个决定其实将给公司的未来带来巨大影响，我们能够感受到压力。我们并没有照顾彼此的情绪，而是理性地思考这两个方案，并经过数小时的慎重讨论做出了决定。但是，如果是两位好朋友，那很难做到这一点。

Make sure you complement each other
确保你与合伙人彼此互补

The most successful business partners come to the table with varying yet complementary talents, perspectives and experiences. Frederic and I have plenty in common. We share a Salesforce.com-heavy network, engineering degrees, experience as competitive athletes and supportive spouses, and we’re both keenly focused on satisfying our customers.
最成功的合伙人能够带来与你不同，但可以相互补充的才能、视角和经验。弗雷德里克与我有许多相似之处。我们的人脉网络都是以Salesforce.com为主、都有工程类学位、都曾是竞技体育运动员、都有默默支持我们的爱人、都专注于满足我们的客户。

Our areas of expertise — his in sales, operations and marketing and mine in product — cover different grounds, and our personalities are mismatched in a necessary way. Frederic’s extroverted and optimistic, whereas I’m naturally more introverted and stoic. Back when we were first fundraising (before we had those two attractive offers), I woke up everyday worried we would never be able to raise money and it was Frederic who always got me to calm down and keep moving forward; we balance each other out.
但我们的专业领域却各有不同——他擅长销售、运营和营销，而我则擅长产品，而且我们的性格也不相配，并且这种错配是必要的。弗雷德里克外向乐观，而我却是天生偏内向和坚忍的性格。早在第一次融资时，也就是收到两份有吸引力的要约之前，我每天早上醒来都会担心，公司能否募集到足够的资金，而弗雷德里克却总是让我冷静，继续努力。我们总能相互达到平衡。

Foster your relationship
与合伙人培养关系

Nowadays, Frederic and I spend a significant amount of time together and we put a lot of work into maintaining our relationship – almost like a married couple. We have a Monday routine where we meet up for breakfast and discuss what we did with our families that weekend before transitioning into priorities for the days ahead. Outside of breakfast, we’re in almost constant communication. Because of that, I’ve actually learned a lot from Frederic about communicating. More communication is always, better, and understanding the intentions of the person on the other side is half the battle.
如今，弗雷德里克需要和我相处大量时间，因此我们在维护相互关系方面做了许多工作——就像是一对夫妇一样。在每周一的例会上，我们会一起吃早餐，先分享周末与家人一起做了什么，然后才开始讨论接下来几天的重要任务。除了早餐时间，我们的沟通也几乎从未间断。因此，实际上我从弗雷德里克身上学到了许多沟通技巧。沟通自然是越多越好，而了解对方的意图则是成功的另一个重要因素。

I tell aspiring founders to look for someone you respect and want to learn from; someone you’ll be comfortable talking to about difficult decisions and frustrating finances; someone you’ll want to invite to family barbeques, but also understand when they can’t make it. Your business partner be a huge part of your life and although it’s crucial you don’t start as friends, you should embrace the companionship that naturally should come with founding a company together.
我建议有抱负的创业者们，你要找的合伙人应该是你尊重的人，是你愿意向他学习的人；与他一起谈论困难的决定和令人沮丧的财务状况时，你会感觉舒服；你会愿意邀请他到家里一起烧烤，并且如果他们来不了，你也能理解对方的难处。你的合伙人是你生活中重要的一部分，虽然不能选择朋友做合伙人，但你应该接受你们在共同创建一家公司的过程中，自然而然产生的深厚友谊。