My friend Naval says some controversial things that get people talking/arguing.

In a tweet yesterday he wrote:

Working with a friend can cost both a business and a friendship.

It can work if the friendship came after working together.

It won’t work if the friendship came before and competence is merely assumed.

I have been working with my partner Tom for over 13 years at Social Leverage. We went to Arizona State University together (Harvard of the West) and were best friends. It might have helped that we both assumed we were both incompetent…but, the partnership has been a great thing.

Gary joined us in 2014 and though he was a friend, the friendship came after working with him (Tom and I had invested in his startup Assistly in 2011).

I think there is a lot of truth to Naval’s thought, but it is not cut and dry.

It is something to think about as you go down the entrepreneurial path.