Cofounder Dating Worksheet
Test the Fit Before You Commit
Before you start building together, make sure it actually works in practice. The Cofounder Worksheet is a free, structured tool that helps founders align on values, vision, motivation, and working style — so you build trust and clarity before the hard stuff begins.
Used by 100,000+ founders and startup teams worldwide.
You Finally Found a Cofounder — Now What?
This stage can feel like chaos. You’ve met someone promising - maybe even “the one” - and now you’re wondering:
What do I do next? How can I be sure this is the right person? Which questions should I even ask?
Many founders skip these conversations, rushing ahead to “finally get started.” That’s how red flags turn into breakups and expensive mistakes later.
Most startups don’t fail because of bad ideas — they fail because founders never had the right conversations. The Cofounder Dating Worksheet fixes that. It helps you to move from assumptions to confirmation, so you can outline how working together will actually be before signing anything.
This worksheet guides you through that process, making sure no important questions get left out, giving you a safe way to explore alignment, spot red flags, and confirm you’re building with the right person.
The Cofounder Dating Worksheet gives you structure in that uncertainty - helping you move from gut feeling to real alignment. It will guide you and make sure no important questions get left out, giving you a safe way to explore alignment, spot red flags, and confirm you’re building with the right person - before you commit.
🗝️ A one-hour honest talk now saves months of stress later.
What’s Inside
Structured list of the key questions every founding team should discuss
Covers values, vision, motivation, commitment, contributions and how you’ll work together.
Helps surface unspoken assumptions and reveal true fit or flags
Built on insights from over 200,000 founder teams - across different stages, industries and geographies
Founders feedback
About Dr. Jana Nevrlka
Dr. Jana Nevrlka helps founders build strong cofounding teams and prevent the conflicts that sink most startups. She has worked with thousands of founders, startup teams, and investors worldwide, delivering practical tools for cofounder agreements, equity splits, and building resilient teams.
As the founder of Cofounding, Jana has guided entrepreneurs through structuring startup partnerships, designing fair equity splits, and creating sustainable cofounder agreements. She is also recognized for a strong track record in mediating cofounder disputes, enabling teams to resolve disagreements, rebuild trust, and protect their companies.
Drawing on her expertise across business, legal, and entrepreneurship, Jana developed a proven 7-step system for cofounder success. This framework has been used and applied by many accelerators, incubators, universities, and venture programs.
Jana speaks, teaches, runs workshops, and delivers tailored team support. Her passion is clear: prevention always beats correction.
Whats next?
Once you’ve aligned with your cofounders through the worksheet, continue your team set up with the
Trial Period Memorandum of Understanding, and Cofounders’ Charter - practical tools to structure your trial period professionally and protecting your company and summarising your alignment. If you wish for your future equity allocation to use the contribution based models - use The Slicing Pie Memorandum of Understanding.