Just as business people are not well-versed in judging the quality of scientists, one of the most difficult things for scientists and engineers is evaluating the quality of business people and entrepreneurs. Here are some things that should improve your odds of finding a high-quality entrepreneur.

You may be the technical entrepreneur, but you need a business co-founder to succeed.

What should you look for in a business entrepreneur/co-founder?

1. Whatever you do, do not team up immediately with the first entrepreneur you meet
2. Look for an experienced entrepreneur
3. If you can't find an experienced entrepreneur, then you should be looking for a successful, high level executive
4. You should ask for references
5. Look for someone who you trust and get along with well
6. Look for someone who is more concerned with growing the business than with keeping control of the equity

More Detail Below:

Whatever you do, do not team up immediately with the first entrepreneur you meet who is interested in working with you.

Take some time, network a bit more, attend a few more events and talk with at least several entrepreneurs before committing.

Look for an experienced entrepreneur.

Ideally you want to find someone who has successfully had an IPO or sold a startup (for a high valuation) that was as similar as possible to your technology. If they have started more than one company and sold them successfully, then that's even better. You want someone with sales & marketing or business development experience (not someone with only finance or CFO experience).

If you can't find an experienced entrepreneur, then you should be looking for a successful, high level executive.

That individual should be from one of the more well-known companies in your industry (one of the large medical device companies if you have a device, or one of the biotech/pharmaceutical companies if you have a new drug compound or platform). They should have a large network in the industry and be very well-regarded in the industry. Again, they should have business development or sales & marketing experience.

You should ask for references and talk to as many people in the industry or investors as you can to get a sense for the entrepreneur's reputation.

The responses that you hear should be glowing and extremely positive. If not, then move on to the next person. If you can get venture capitalists to recommend someone to you, then this is often a great way to find a high-quality entrepreneur who investors already trust and have confidence in.

Look for someone who you trust and get along with well.

Being cofounders is a bit like being married so you want to find someone you enjoy working with and interacting with frequently. Many startups fail as a result of personality conflicts on the team rather than a failure of the technology. So it is very important to find someone who shares your vision for the company and who you can get along with when things get difficult.

Look for someone who is more concerned with growing the business than with keeping control of the equity.

While you should expect to give up a large percentage of the equity (10% or more) to recruit a good entrepreneur, research shows that companies do better when the founders are willing to give up control and equity in order to grow the business. Trying to maintain too much control can result in owning 100% of nothing.

References

• Rich or Royal: What Do Founders Want?
• Eesley, Charles E. and Roberts, Edward B., "Cutting Your Teeth: Learning from Rare Experiences" (June 2006). MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 4609-06 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=909615
• Gompers, Paul A., Kovner, Anna, Lerner, Josh and Scharfstein, David S., "Skill Vs. Luck in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital: Evidence from Serial Entrepreneurs" (October 2006). NBER Working Paper No. W12592 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=937293
• Kathleen M. Eisenhardt and Claudia Bird Schoonhoven. Organizational Growth: Linking Founding Team, Strategy, Environment, and Growth Among U.S. Semiconductor Ventures, 1978-1988. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Sep., 1990), pp. 504-529