Sometimes the start-up is a literary magazine and the garage is a two-bedroom apartment. This week's profile looks at a pair who built their web design and development company on the idea that if they followed their passion, the revenue would come.
Who are the principals in your partnership and what is the name of your company?
I'm Todd Nienkerk and my partner is Aaron Stanush. We started Four Kitchens, along with two other friends, as a way to explore online publishing.
How did your partnership start?
Four Kitchens began as a group of four recent college graduates who wanted to form a "creative collective" to do… well, we didn't really know at the time.
We met at the Texas Travesty, the student humor publication at the University of Texas at Austin. We pulled countless all-nighters to meet impossible editorial deadlines while becoming friends, managers, and creative partners. This hands-on experience was better than any business school.
We were a few years apart, so those of us who had already graduated got jobs and became productive members of society... for about a year. Then we started pining for the Travesty days. Realizing we missed working together, we decided to do what we love and hope the money would follow.
We started by launching "That Other Paper," an irreverent, online alt-weekly focusing on arts, culture, and the growing comedy scene in Austin. We quit our jobs, moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the cheapest part of town, and turned the living room into an office replete with Ikea and second-hand furniture. We bought food in bulk from Costco and ate group meals in front of our laptops.
Because we had no money and no income, we had to build the website ourselves. By the time we were done, "That Other Paper" was one of the largest and most impressive Drupal websites around in 2006. That's when people started calling and asking: "Can you make something like that for me?"
Four Kitchens began as an experiment in new media and online publishing. Seven years later, we've grown to 15 designers, developers, and digital strategists, and we work with some of the world’s largest websites and brands. Two of the original four founders have left—one, my wife, became a chef, and the other moved to San Francisco to launch a startup—but Aaron Stanush and I remain.
Aaron and I split operational responsibilities. I primarily handle business development, sales, and legal. Aaron handles finances and human resources. We have weekly check-ins to discuss team, project, and client health, as well as business development and marketing goals.
Though the majority of our time is spent on operations and long-term business strategy, Aaron and I still do client work. As Digital Strategist, I work with our clients to articulate their business goals, audiences, and revenue models, then set the strategy and vision of projects that best meet their goals and serve their organization, customers, or community. As Creative Director, Aaron collaborates with our design team on the user experience for client projects. We also build a lot of mobile-friendly websites and applications, so he helps with everything from content strategy to visual design.
To what do you attribute the strength of your partnership?
We're good at both collaborating and separating responsibilities. Because we met while writing for a humor publication, collaboration is in our DNA. Improv comedy is built on the concept of "yes, and..." Every idea should be accepted and built upon. Denying an idea—the dreaded "no" in improv—stifles creativity and puts up defenses. (When it's 3:00am on a Sunday night and press needs the files by 8:00am, creative energy cannot be impeded.) We're very good "yes, and..."-ers.
But we also separate our responsibilities. I handle legal and Aaron handles finance. When one of us has a problem, we talk and ask for advice. Otherwise, we fully trust that the other is acting in the best interest of the organization. Not having to worry about money frees me to focus on business development, and not having to worry about contract negotiations frees Aaron to build a strong creative team.
What habits do you cultivate that support/strengthen your relationship?
We maintain our friendship outside of work. This can be hard due to busy schedules, but we make an effort to spent time with each other as friends and not talk about work. As Aaron mentioned a couple of weeks ago: "We sometimes joke that we don't need to hang out after work because we see each other all day, but that isn't really true. We're both in the office, but that doesn't mean we see each other."
We also love to travel. (Like so many of our college cohorts, we backpacked Europe together.) We try to align our travel schedules and reserve a day or two for doing something new and exciting.
What was the biggest challenge you faced as partners and how did you overcome it?
Like most companies during the past five years, we've had a couple of financial scares. When budgets have been tight, Aaron and I drastically cut our pay, and we get together on weekends to make contingency plans or work overtime. This in-it-together-ness is key: It's much easier to cope during hard times when you have someone to lean on — someone who is experiencing the same stress and difficulties.
What was the biggest disagreement you have had to resolve?
We both have a background in design, so we can be very opinionated about the way something looks and feels. Our most frequent disagreements have to do with designs for a client project and our own branding. This creative friction is often a good thing, though, because it forces us to make deliberate, defensible choices in our designs.
What advice would you give to new partners?
At Four Kitchens, we have something called the Airport Test. When discussing whether to hire a new Web Chef, we imagine being stuck in an airport with that person for 3-5 hours. If that scenario doesn't seem so bad, they pass; if it seems like agony, they fail.
Taking on a partner requires something far more extensive than a layover: it requires the Marriage Test. Going into business together is basically like getting married. You're legally and financially obligated to one another. You're going to spend a lot of time together — 60-80 hours a week, late into the night and on weekends — so you need to get along when nerves are frayed and tempers run hot. Most importantly, you're inheriting each other's lives: their families, debts, failures, and burned bridges.
New partners should ask themselves: Am I in it for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until merger, acquisition, or dissolution do we part?
Metaphors aside, new partners should have something in common besides the pursuit of commerce. They should share passions, hobbies, and senses of humor. These are what build strong friendships, which in turn build strong partnerships.
Did your partnership have collaborative beginnings rooted in creative drive? Share your story in the comments or you can tweet me @furiouslymandy with the hashtag #committed.
This is part of a series of interviews with real business partners who open up about what makes their partnership tick. Do you have a partnership that is thriving? If you’re willing to share your story, fill out my questionnaire and I may feature you in a future column.
