My co-founder and I both want to occupy the Product and Technology seat on our Accountability Chart because we both built our original software and cannot agree on who should lead it. How do we resolve this co-founder deadlock without damaging our relationship?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In EOS®, there is a strict rule: only one name can sit in a seat. When two co-founders try to share a seat, it creates confusion for the team, delays decision-making, and leads to political turf wars. You must split the responsibilities and choose one owner.

To resolve this deadlock, you need to look at the business's needs, not your egos. Start by breaking down the Product and Technology function into its logical sub-seats. One of you might be better suited for product strategy, user experience, and market research, while the other is better at engineering, system architecture, and managing the development team.

Design the Accountability Chart to reflect these distinct functions. For example, you can create a Product Director seat and an Engineering Director seat. One of you will sit in each seat, and both seats will report directly to your Integrator.

If the seat cannot be split logically and truly requires a single leader, you must run a GWC™ comparison. Be brutally honest about who has the better capacity to manage people, track budgets, and hit development deadlines. The partner who does not get the seat must step back and trust their co-founder to run that department. This is where you practice being trustworthy and building mutual trust, as outlined in the Trusted Advisor Fieldbook. If you cannot reach an agreement, your Integrator must make the final decision.