7 Businesses That Were Founded by Good FriendsFrom Warby Parker to Airbnb, check out these business buddies.
ByRose Leadem•Originally published
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Launching a businessisn't easy, which is why having aco-foundercan often make things a little smoother, especially if thatco-founderis your best friend. While many professionals warn against choosing a close friend as your business partner, there are plenty of examples that prove it can work. Just take a look at companies such as Airbnb, Warby Parker and even Ben and Jerry's. These successful businesses started out with a friendship before a brand, and look how they turned out.
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If you're thinking about launching a small business with your BFF, but need someinspiration, check out the success stories of these seven BFF co-founders.
Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, Airbnb
In 2007, Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk moved to San Francisco and found a roommate through Craigslist: Joe Gebbia. At the time, Blecharczyk was an engineer for a startup and Gebbia was a designer for a different startup, and they immediately hit it off. "While I lived with Joe I came to appreciate two things about him -- he worked just as hard as I did, and his skills complemented mine," Blecharczyk told米ashable. "I have the technical abilities, and he had the creative design skills."
After Blecharczyk moved out, Gebbia's college friend Brian Chesky moved in. All three became close friends and worked in the same industry, and it was in the summer of 2008 when they came up with their billion-dollar business idea. Due to a design conference in San Francisco, there was a shortage of available hotels, so the three built a website that would rent out space in people's apartments. The result: Airbnb.
Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andrew Hunt and Jeffrey Raider, Warby Parker
Warby Parker founders Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andrew Hunt and Jeffrey Raiderbecame friendsduring grad school at Wharton in Philadelphia. Bonding over a shared frustration with expensive glasses, the friends realized there was an opportunity in the market for them: high-quality, reasonably priced glasses available online. After coming up with the idea, they met up at their local bar and made a pact that they would all work hard to launch the company but make sure their friendships were never compromised.
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Ben Lerer and Adam Rich, Thrillist
Ben Lerer and Adam Richwere friendslong before launching Thrillist, an online media brand that covers local events and restaurants around the country. After both graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and moved to New York, Lerer and Rich would hang out often. One night while having a beer together on Rich's roof, complaining about their jobs while Lerer was getting ready to go out on a date, they came up with the idea to launch Thrillist. Frustrated that he couldn't figure out where to go on his date, Lerer and Rich realized the lack of online advice or city guides available when it came to restaurants, events and things to do. After that, Lerer and Rich began going to restaurants around the city, trying multiple items and writing up articles on them until the site eventually grew and is now a prominent media group.Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry's
The friendship of Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream dates back to the seventh grade. "I met Jerry running around the track in seventh-grade gym class. We were the two slowest, fattest kids in the class," Cohen toldThe Independent. Quickly becoming best friends, Cohen and Greenfield spent their teenage years together and eventually ended up living in New York after Greenfield graduated college. Eventually, after they felt the ice cream industry was too saturated in New York, they made their way to Vermont and in 1978 opened their first store in Burlington.Justyn Howard, Gil Lara, Aaron Rankin and Peter Soung, Sprout Social
When theSprout Socialexecutive team, Justyn Howard, Gil Lara, Aaron Rankin and Peter Soung, met each other, they knew they should start a company together, however, they didn't know what the company would be. Howard, the company's co-founder, and CEO, and Lara, co-founder and COO, were family friends long before they became business friends through the birth ofSprout Social. Their wives eventually introduced them to Rankin, the company's CTO, during a couple's group date night. Then, Rankin introduced the group to his former colleague and fellow bowling league competitor, Soung -- today the company's director of engineering, growth and mobile. "From those initial introductions and conversations it was pretty obvious we should find a way to work together, and Sprout took shape shortly after," explains Howard.
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