Two Is Better Than One: Finding The Right Co-founder
š LiteraSeed has a new co-founder! Iām pleased to announce that after nearly 7 years of being on the startup journey, I have found the perfect co-founder with whom to build a company. We have a shared vision ā and that makes a world of difference.
I would like to introduce John Waldeisen, co-founder of LiteraSeed.
Below I write about why John joining LiteraSeed is such a significant milestone worth celebrating. Iāll be sharing with you what starting a company was like for me before and after he joined.
Part I: We Share A Powerful Vision
Improving the quality of life of underserved people is of utmost importance to me. This passion motivated me to persevere long and hard in the face of many obstacles. From family cultural resistance to the inability to find work with decent pay, my journey has been a tough one for me, compounded further by the founding of a company, an already significant endeavor.
Family Demands
As many of you will know, my family came to the USA as Afghan refugees. During already challenging times in the middle of an economic recession, my family relied heavily on me with regards to speaking the English language, which became the perfect driver for me to start LiteraSeed!
As a teenager, I had to assist my parents during hardship with the loss of their business, foreclosure on our home, and bankruptcy. I was graduating high school at the time and this couldnāt have come at a worse moment for me.
I dreamed of becoming an architect. I loved the idea of building big, beautiful structures, organizing how people used and moved through space, shaping the experiences they would have therein. However, due to our familyās financial circumstances, I needed to support my family and in doing so, I nearly lost my college scholarship that I had worked so, so hard to achieve.
My dad desperately needed to find ways to support a family with five children, two of which were very young and under the age of 7. I was now a high school graduate and my parents believed I needed to take on much of the financial responsibility to support the family. My siblings and I worked without pay at our fatherās convenience store. It demanded most of my time, conflicting with school and academic success. Fortunately, I mustered the courage to seek the help of the university. They understood the agony I was in when I faced the prospect of losing my education, and they realized just how dire my circumstances were. While I didnāt get into the Architecture program as a result of this situation, the university did let me keep my scholarship. I changed my major and worked my absolute hardest to make up for missed coursework, and I went overtime in my remaining years.
Through all of this, I feared that my family circumstances and the lack of financial support would catch up to me and keep me from graduating. When I changed my major to Digital Culture, I knew I had to finish in 3 years; I took as many classes as I could including through the summer. I remember the first break I had during my undergraduate years was the winter break of my senior year. The first night I was able to rest, however, I woke up the next morning with hives that lasted the entire week. The cause is unknown, but Iām convinced it must have been from three and a half years of stress. Iām sure youāve heard many stories of people getting sick during time off or vacation. Itās like our human body holds off on getting sick until it knows we have the time to deal with it. I went on to graduate college with honors within four years and completed my undergraduate thesis.
Cultural Pressure
I love and respect most aspects of Afghani culture, however, like all cultures there are some customs or expectations that I do not like. Naturally, I fought against some of this, which led to community pressure and family discord.
I wonāt go into too much detail around this, but I resisted expectations in certain areas which caused misalignment with my parents and our community. Traditional Afghani expectations are that once a child is of mature age, a marriage is arranged by the parents. Women are generally married at a younger age than men, who are given more time to stabilize their career before marriage. For me, I knew I wanted to do more with my life by contributing to society in a meaningful way. I felt locking myself into marriage so early would not allow me to achieve these goals. So, I resisted.
Womenās education and careers are generally not supported. It means a lot to me to be in the first generation, and the first woman in my motherās family, to graduate both high school and college.
Early Career and Startup Challenges
During the early days of bootstrapping LiteraSeed I worked mostly low-wage jobs, partly because of the reduction in opportunities as a result of the economic recession straight out of college. I felt stuck in the cycle of low-paid work that ensued. I invested every penny I could into the business. One role had a particularly hostile work environment with a horrible boss. This experience occurred while my 10 year old cousin had been in the ICU as her tragedy, and eventual death, was unfolding. Yet my boss, who knew of the situation, was trying to get me fired, making my life even more miserable. I felt sick. I felt traumatized by the experience, so much so that it became hard to go to work. I felt like my body was walking to work, but my heart was pulling itself back and refusing to come along without being forcibly dragged. This terrible experience made me absolutely determined to be a great leader in my own business and build a supportive and inclusive workplace where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work. A company where they can be honored and appreciated for their contributions.
Anyone who has been through a situation where they have struggled for years to achieve something, lacking social and financial support, juggling low-wage work, while breaking away from cultural traditions, trying to bring something into the world to make a positive difference, and trying to get life on track to where they want it to be, will understand the loneliness I felt at the time. I experienced depression and I was often disappointed in myself through those 7 years. I beat myself up a lot. I felt like a failure. I questioned everything that I sacrificed, and I felt lied to as a child, made to dream at a young age, to grow up and be met with a hostile and unsupportive world. Even with the support of people I met at the time, who kept encouraging me not to give up, I recognized the weakness of their words that were unable to lift me up or carry me where I needed to go. I had given everything for a college degree, and there I was working in a low-wage, dead-end retail job, fighting to keep my job, unable and unknowing how to start, let alone save, my career. Looking back now, I was very hard on myself.
It was during one of these low moments when I dug deeper than I ever had before. I decided to focus 100% on LiteraSeed. My mission to positively impact the world was more important than anything else at that moment. Once again, my determination kicked in. It was a good thing it did because starting from scratch without a background in healthcare was very tough. Many people didnāt think it was possible and many didnāt want to see me succeed [1]. I am living proof that with utter determination, anything is possible.
[Sidenote #1] Itās almost like, aside from those who are clearly supportive, who give merely encouraging words, there are always more people who donāt want to see someone work harder than them, or be able to achieve what they couldnāt. They donāt want to see someone achieve something that doesnāt fit within their narrative of how life should work. Some people feel this so strongly that they will act as gatekeepers. An important thing, Iāve learned though, is that the gate is too long for any one gatekeeper to be effective in keeping you out. As long as you continue trying you will find a way.
I talked to as many people as I could, I listened to their advice and told my story. I found that I was able to connect on a very deep level with the right people who could help to move LiteraSeed forward. Slowly, and painfully at first, it started to move. Over time we gained momentum ā I effectively inserted myself into the system and wouldnāt take no for an answer!
When COVID struck, for a moment, I thought that would be the end, but ever the opportunist, I pivoted my plans for LiteraSeedās pilot and it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the business.
That same year, I attempted to get funded by a startup incubator I was part of and it didnāt happen. As it turns out, I was practically the only startup in that batch that didnāt get funded. That was really hard. I was almost completely out of cash, and couldnāt even spend money on food [2]. Luckily, at least, I had a roof over my head, thanks to my parents.
[Sidenote #2] The lack of food in college was the most severe. Due to depression, there had been times when I had gone more than 24 hours without food. I couldnāt afford food without assistance. In the earliest days I would go hungry on campus, until I got a scholarship to cover a meal plan. Iāve had days where I only ate Rice Krispies cereal. Every time I went to see the doctor, I was weighing one or two pounds less than the last visit. Nowadays, itās mostly fried foods, the same rice dish, and fast food, not always much to eat at that, and not really much better for my health and energy.
Part II: I Needed The Perfect Match For LiteraSeed
I was on a search, until I wasnāt anymore, for a co-founder to join me on my journey. Trying and failing, I met many different people from diverse backgrounds, but the match was never right. It was difficult to find someone who would feel as passionate about LiteraSeed as I did, and who would be willing to commit their time and bring the right knowledge, skills, motivation, and complementary personalities to match.
Struggling so long and coming seemingly so far, I had quit on the idea of having a co-founder.
That is, until I met John Waldeisen. John started as my volunteer mentor through the incubator I was part of. He helped me beyond measure to handle tough situations and brought skills that I needed to LiteraSeed. As we worked together over the next several months, I leaned on him more and more for support. John has always been quick to respond, and he would help in any way that he could. As we got to know each other better, we discovered that our interests were aligned. Over time, I began to realize that John was the kind of leader LiteraSeed needed, and that I had been searching for ā for 7 years. Together, John and I have the complementary skills needed to bring LiteraSeed to fruition and grow it into a company that can improve healthcare, not only in America, but around the world.
John joining LiteraSeed has been, and continues to be, a great blessing to the company. Iāve witnessed plans take off and come together much faster, and stronger than ever before. In the time we have been working together LiteraSeed has gained so much momentum, we have made more progress together than I could have achieved alone.
Bringing on the right co-founder is probably the best and most important decision in the earliest stages of starting a company one could make. It is proven to have the most impact in all facets of the companyās development. During the course of our mentoring sessions, I definitely felt more energized, with increased day-to-day motivation and bolstered confidence. I began to take bold new risks without the emotional aftermath or loss of hope that previously resulted when the turn of events didnāt go to plan or the way I wished they would. I learned that the struggles were all part of a normal process. When I didnāt get that investment, John was the only person who knew what to say to make me feel better, and his words rang true. Hereās just a snapshot of one of our earliest conversations:
āHey Aziza,
I know itās painful that _________ didnāt invest in you and Iām not sure why this outcome was the decision bc it was pretty clear to me & the other mentors that you were one of the top fellows.
Regardless, investors like _________ make mistakes all the time and the good folks running the program are very new to investing. I would honestly not read too much into this decision and chalk it up to a lapse in judgment. Do not take it personally. Use it as motivation and keep going. Show them that they made the wrong decision by continuing onwards.
Itās cliche, but I have found that having to persevere through struggles has ALWAYS yielded a much better outcome and made me a much better personā¦ [provided personal example].
I know you may feel slighted, but carry on, hold your head up, continue through the program, and show them that they made a mistake not investing in an outstanding founder & startup. You have achieved a lot to get to this point, especially with the Valleywise pilot, a point most funded health tech startups never even reach. Be proud of that. šŖ
I have always found that although things often donāt go as expected, years later the outcome turns out to be better than the one I planned at the time. Youāre so close! Iām willing to bet that youāll look back in a year thinking how silly it was that you got upset over _________ās goofy $20k investment. You have a lot of people (at _________) that do believe in you right now. šā ā John
As you can see, John has always had an unwavering commitment to the founders he mentored, even when things got really tough. This is only one example, but there are many more. Furthermore, he was absolutely right that I would move on and things would get better with LiteraSeed. Anyone who knows John or sees him in action will agree with me when I say that he is a truly great person and a natural leader. With no expectation for anything in return he generously helped me to put together my first investor pitch deck and grant applications, supported my pilot with Valleywise Health, analyzed and effectively presented the data, helped me to secure strategic collaborations, and helped to raise LiteraSeedās first $60k in investments to name but a few.
I went through a lot before I found John, and I almost gave up. I am incredibly proud that we have forged such a strong partnership. I could not have chosen anyone with a better fit to be my co-founder, our visions are perfectly aligned and unified, we have complementary skills, and we enjoy working together. I knew that bringing John on board as a co-founder and leader would be a prudent decision for the company [3].
[Sidenote #3] In fact, here are some stats about the importance of good co-founders:
80% of billion-dollar unicorns have co-founders (only 20% of unicorns are solo founded, of which, most are repeat entrepreneurs)
The first thing Paul Graham recommends to startups is to āpick good co-foundersā http://www.paulgraham.com/13sentences.html
Itās well known that YC rarely accepts solo founders and encourages solo founders to find a co-founder https://www.ycombinator.com/library/6S-on-starting-and-scaling-dropbox-yc-w07
LiteraSeed Now Has Incredible Momentum
Together, John and I have been able to accelerate the work we are doing with LiteraSeed and increase the potential for impact we can have. The result of our collaboration has had a tangible effect in attracting more partners and more pilots, allowing the company to grow.
John brings his 7 years of experience as the co-founder and CEO of Lucira Health, and his clinical research background from his PhD in Bioengineering. He has always had an interest in public health and in improving equitable access to healthcare. From a professional and personal perspective, I couldnāt have asked for a better co-founder to join me in truly starting LiteraSeed. The timing of our collaboration is perfect. On a personal note John is inspiring in so many ways, and I donāt believe LiteraSeed could ask for a better leader.
The past three months that John and I have worked together full time has resulted in many new and exciting updates in the pipeline with LiteraSeed. Stay tuned as weāll be sharing those updates with you when the time comes.
Aziza Ismail
Co-founder, LiteraSeed
āØ A special note of thanks to Abby Webster for reviewing.
