Who said that successful entrepreneurs have no friends? People often advise never to mix your personal life with your professional one. However, several startups seem to be turning the norm on its head.
Whoever said that there are no friends in the business, certainly lived in different times than today. We have many business partnerships that are rooted in the honest spirit of friendship. Incidentally, these businesses have done extremely well.
So, today, we take a look at some successful entrepreneurs who were best friends before being business partners. Take a look:
#1.Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal
Let’s begin the list with the creators of the biggest e-commerce website in India, Flipkart. The two Bansals are not related to each other but have many things in common apart from their surname. For starters, both of them grew in Chandigarh and later graduated from IIT-Delhi. Fate would take them to different companies from there, but would eventually bring them back together at Amazon. It was there that they became great friends and their baby, Flipkart, followed soon after.
(Image Courtesy: Office Chai)
#2.Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal
Talking of Indian e-commerce giants brings us to yet another similar website. Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal’s friendship dates back longer than you can imagine. The two literally grew up together and were the best of friends since childhood. The duo even prepared for IIT’s entrance exam together except that Rohit got through but Kunal couldn’t. However, it was only a matter of time before they got back together and soon fulfilled their childhood dream of owning a business together.
(Image Courtesy: India TV)
#3.Ken Cornick and Caryn Seidman-Becker
Just like Snapdeal’s owner, Cornick’s and Becker’s friendship too dates back to a long time, more than 17 years to be precise. The two always believed that they shared a lot of things in common, including their hope of owning a business. From there, it was not long before the two took over CLEAR, a biometrics company based in New York.
(Image Courtesy: Forbes)
#4.Phanindra Sama, Sudhakar Pasupunuri, and Charan Padmaraju
Perhaps everyone can relate to how redBus came into being. It was just another night when these three friends were partying, and one of them brought up the idea of opening a business in a state of being high. However, this idea remained in their subconscious minds for a long time, and they eventually created India’s biggest bus reservation app, redBus.
(Image Courtesy: Live Mint)
#5.Stacy Struminger and Rachel Teyssier
The two became great friends when they met at a moms play group 16 years ago. It was one of those rainy days in their town when Struminger wondered if there could’ve been a better, more fashionable alternative to a raincoat. Teyssier fell in love with the idea instantly, and the two started working their way to convert this idea into reality. Only a year later, they launched Rainraps, a line of fashionable waterproof pashminas.
(Image Courtesy: Richmond Times)
So, there you have it. As evident by the examples above, entrepreneurs do have friends. What these examples also tell us is that while they might not have many friends, the ones they do have are extremely like-minded.
This brings us to the conclusion that entrepreneurs are often loners only because they didn’t find people of the same intellect to hang out with. Do you agree with us? Let us know in the comments below!
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