{"id":13957,"date":"2026-06-22T12:46:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/?p=13957"},"modified":"2026-06-22T12:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:50:08","slug":"conflicts-co-founder-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/en\/resource-center\/entrepreneurship-innovation\/conflicts-co-founder-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"How and when conflicts among co-founder entrepreneurs lead to their exit intentions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Conflicts can arise among the founders of a company, whether it is a start-up or not. How can we ensure that these conflicts do not jeopardize the company? Are certain types of disagreement more likely than others to cause difficulties for the company? And how can disputes be effectively resolved?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ventures led by a team generally outperform solo<\/a> ventures in terms of profitability, growth and overall success. However, despite their potential, they remain vulnerable to failure due to co-founders leaving. Nearly 40 percent of entrepreneurial teams see at least one of their members leave the venture within five years<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst the departure of some co-founders may have limited consequences, or may even prove beneficial in certain situations, the departure of a co-founder who possesses knowledge, unique entrepreneurial skills or contacts that are essential to the business may result in the loss of such resources and thus undermine the firm\u2019s competitive advantage, growth or even its survival<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study in Pakistan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite their significance, relatively little is known about the factors leading to the breakdown of entrepreneurial teams, the reasons why co-founders leave, and how to prevent such situations. Our study<\/a> in Pakistan examined how and when different types of conflict among co-founders influence their intention to leave the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conflict<\/a> is a natural product of social interactions, characterized by disagreements or interpersonal incompatibilities arising from differences of opinion, conflicting wishes or desires, and personality clashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start-up teams often bring together people with complementary skills, expertise and experience. This diversity can be a source of creativity, innovation and effective decision-making. However, it can also lead to disagreements over priorities or strategic choices, or even the future direction of the business \u2013 thereby increasing the likelihood of conflict among co-founders<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, unlike teams in more established companies, start-up teams<\/a> operate in a working environment<\/a> that can be highly stressful, characterized by limited formal supervision, poorly defined role boundaries, heavy workloads, as well as frequent changes to objectives, strategies and individual responsibilities. All these characteristics can increase uncertainty and conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An underestimated risk?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Under such conditions, conflict can become an inevitable aspect of entrepreneurs\u2019 day-to-day interactions. This conflict gives rise to tensions and incompatibilities within the group of co-founders and can even undermine the well-being of the entrepreneurs<\/a>. Therefore, it is a critical but often underestimated threat that not only impairs team cohesion but also heightens some entrepreneurs\u2019 intentions to leave the startup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three main types<\/a> of conflict can be identified:<\/p>\n\n\n\n