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Great partnerships rarely fail overnight. They erode one unsaid truth at a time. I've learned this the hard way, both in business and personally: When you hold back your true thoughts - whether to avoid conflict or protect the status quo - you trade short-term comfort for long-term regret. I've seen promising startups fall apart, co-founder bonds unravel, and valuable relationships fracture. Not from major conflicts, but from badly-needed conversations that unfortunately never took place. Strong partnerships, especially between founders or friends, require clarity, genuine reciprocity, and the courage to address what's uncomfortable. Without openness, even the most promising relationships quietly fracture beneath the surface. When sensing friction or guardedness, I rely on the framework from "𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨" (highly recommend if you haven't read it) to guide me: 𝟭. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳? (𝘉𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.) 𝟮. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻? (𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦.) 𝟯. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽? (𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵.) 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 - 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Don't wait until silence becomes resentment. If something feels off, speak clearly, openly, and honestly - before the silence speaks for you. Because once trust erodes, it’s incredibly hard to rebuild. Have you experienced a partnership where openness saved - or silence destroyed - the relationship? I'd love to hear your story. -- If you found this post helpful: ♻️ Repost to share it with your audience 🔔 Follow me Darrell Lerner for more on entrepreneurship, startups, personal branding, and mindset.

Momentum is hard to create. It's even harder to regain. One of the craziest momentum swings in my career happened while building SNAP Interactive. After pivoting onto Facebook’s new app platform, our dating app took off faster than we ever imagined. Then, in a stroke of unintended PR gold, the CEO of Match dot com publicly dismissed us as "𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦." Ironically, his casual insult sparked a chain of events that transformed our company overnight. The news exploded on Bloomberg TV, our stock skyrocketed, and suddenly we had massive momentum on our side. Within days, we leveraged that moment to raise $8.5M - catapulting the business from a scrappy startup into the big leagues. We eventually hit 120 million users, over $100 million in revenue, and ranked as the 36th fastest-growing tech company in North America. Momentum is like rocket fuel - when you have it, every door opens effortlessly. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘆: 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗳𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹 - 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲: • 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁. Investors, partners, even friends quickly move on if you hesitate. • 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀. Doubt replaces enthusiasm in an instant. • 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀. What once felt urgent suddenly seems optional. • 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆. Opportunities rarely announce when they leave; they simply disappear. • 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗲. Hesitation and guardedness spread like a silent disease, destroying connections. I’ve experienced this painfully - professionally and personally. Hesitation isn't harmless. It signals doubt or disinterest. And once someone senses you're pulling back, they instinctively do the same. Momentum stalls, fades, then disappears entirely. Once someone senses your hesitation or guardedness, they instinctively pull back too, and the cycle of losing momentum accelerates. In business and relationships alike, when you feel momentum slipping, that's exactly when you must lean in. Waiting is never neutral - it actively erodes everything you’ve built. Never assume momentum will wait for you. Because when it’s gone, it might never return. -- If you found this post helpful: ♻️ Repost to share it with your audience 🔔 Follow me Darrell Lerner for more on entrepreneurship, startups, personal branding, and mindset.

Trust isn't always possible in business. But clear boundaries are. You don't always get to choose your ideal partners. Sometimes the person who offers tremendous upside (access, connections, resources) is someone you don't fully trust with your contacts, strategies, or reputation. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀. Throughout my career, I've worked with people whose skills and networks were incredible - but whose values or actions were questionable. At one point, I collaborated with someone who provided exceptional and unique value in a highly coveted area - but their constant boundary-testing forced me to manage our relationship incredibly closely to keep it alive. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱? 𝗬𝗲𝘀 - 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹. Here's my proven approach: • 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Clearly define roles, responsibilities, and access - in writing. • 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲: Keep involvement limited to specific areas where they add clear value. • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: Safeguard your key personal and professional contacts (only share information on a need-to-know basis - and do so cautiously and carefully). • 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Frequent check-ins, clear expectations, and swift course corrections. • 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻: Have a clear and professional way out, if necessary. Here’s the truth: Partnerships without full trust can still unlock huge opportunities, but they're never risk-free. If you aren't consistently managing boundaries and expectations, you're gambling - not partnering. Managed carefully, however, these relationships can provide powerful strategic leverage without compromising your core values. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀: What's your best tip for managing valuable but low-trust partners? -- If you found this post helpful: ♻️ Repost to share it with your audience 🔔 Follow me Darrell Lerner for more on entrepreneurship, startups, personal branding, and mindset.