Passive founder deadlock  Startup Founders are like toes Startup
Founders are connected like toes on a foot. Photo by me.  A
“deadlock” is a state in a computer program where parts of the
program is waiting for other parts to finish who in turn are
waiting for the other parts. The result is a freeze where
nothing happens. This has probably happened to your computer
some time.  A similar situation can occur in early stage
startups. Before a startup gets funding or revenue the only
thing that drives it is the passion of the founders. But, the
passion in every individual founder is deeply connected to the
passion of the other founders. You need to have a passion
balance equilibrium otherwise the startup will freeze just like
the computer program!  As an example, you’re three founders, you
get started, energy is high and you’re all excited to do this
thing. Then after a while one of the founders starts drifting.
Maybe her daytime job takes too much time. Maybe her spouse
doesn’t like that she spends all her free