Co-founder Conflict?
You keep having the same argument. You both say what you think.
Nothing moves, because the real issue never makes it to the table.
I help co-founders get to what's underneath, and decide what happens next, before one of you walks.
It usually starts when something changes
Maybe you just closed a round. Maybe a deal fell through, or someone new joined, or the company grew faster than one of you did.
And suddenly the things you thought were settled aren't anymore.
Who owns what. Who decides. Who's really carrying this.
Now every argument somehow ends up being the same argument. You could both write the script by now.
At some point someone said "maybe I should just leave." Neither of you has forgotten it.
Why you can’t get out of it by yourself
When you're both in the loop, neither of you can see it clearly.
Everyone else has a side. Your investor has money in it. A lawyer works for one of you. A coach usually works for one of you too. Your friends have only heard your version.
What helps is someone who works with both of you at once, isn't on either side, and understands what's at stake for a startup.
Arguing isn't the problem.
Good co-founders disagree all the time. That's how decisions get better.
The problem is arguing in circles, where every disagreement about the work becomes a proxy for something neither of you has named. That's what wears teams down, and it's what I help you break.
How it works
We talk
A free, confidential 30-minute call or quick chat on Whatsapp. You tell me what's happening, and I tell you honestly whether I can help. It's fine to call or chat on your own.
I talk to each of you alone
If we move forward, I hear each of you separately. What you tell me stays with me until you choose to bring it into the room.
We sit down together
As many sessions needed with all of you. We go past the argument you keep having to what's underneath it: who's carrying what, whether the roles still fit, how committed each of you really is, and where the company is going.
You leave with clarity
One page, agreed by all of you. How does the team move forward? What needs to change? Who does what, who decides what, and what you'll do the next time you disagree.
What this isn’t
Not a compatibility test.
Those are for people deciding whether to start a company together. You're past that.
Not one-on-one coaching.
That helps one of you. This is about all of you.
Not therapy.
This is about how you run a company together. If something needs a different kind of help, I'll tell you.
Not a lawyer.
Lawyers handle it when it's over. This is the conversation before it gets there.
How I work
All of you, or none of you.
I don't work with one founder against another.
The company pays.
So no single founder is my client. The partnership is.
It stays in the room.
I don't talk to your investors, your board or your team unless you all ask me to.
I won't tell you who's right.
I'll help you work out what happens next, whether that's building together or going separate ways fairly.
About me
Lauri Koittola, startup & Founder Coach
I've spent years working with founding teams in startup programs, from first idea to first funding round. I've sat in a lot of rooms where two or more co-founders were having the same argument for the tenth time, and I know how to help them get past it.
I'm trained as an executive coach at Henley Business School and certified in team coaching and solution-focused brief coaching.
I’m Head Coach at Boost Turku Entrepreneurship Society.
Who I work with
Founding teams in the Nordics and across Europe who have raised money, usually pre-seed or seed. Sessions are online, in English or Finnish. I take on only a few teams at a time.