Cofounder coaching is becoming more common. But founders still have basic questions: What is this work? Who's qualified to do it? Is it actually worth the money?

After five years of coaching hundreds of founding teams, I've noticed most questions cluster around five core confusions. Here's what founders actually ask, and what they need to know.

This is the most common question I hear. Understanding the distinction matters for finding the right support.

Cofounder coaching draws heavily from couples therapy modalities—emotion-focused therapy, the Gottman method, Imago therapy. But several critical differences affect how the work unfolds.

When you're building a company together, every decision has downstream effects. Your team watches how you handle conflict. Investors notice tension. The pressure is different from what couples face.

Couples can take space. Cofounders usually can't—at least not cleanly. You have a company that needs both of you. You have to find a way to work together even when you're furious with each other.

You're not dealing with romance or whose family you're spending the holidays with. But you are dealing with power, ego, and the fact that your professional identity is tied to this other person.

Sessions jump between psychological insight and business reality. One minute, we're talking about why you shut down in meetings. The next, we're working through a firing decision. You need someone who can hold both.

And the timeline is compressed. Couples therapy can take years.........

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