MediVault Informatics: Negotiating co-founder discord in a growth-stage startup
Abhay Kulkarni, Deepak Anand, and Sudhir Deshpande co-founded MediVault Informatics (MI) in 2019, and onboarded a fourth-co-founder, Suraj Garg in 2022. Before founding the healthtech venture, they had been co-workers and friends at a data analytics firm. Over the next few years, MI expanded its technology and client portfolio, raised external funding and built a team of 60 employees.
As the startup scaled, the founders had to tackle issues around setting rules and processes and codifying organisational culture. One of the startup’s investors, Octavius Capital, recommended formalising the co-founders’ titles and roles as well as a variable remuneration structure based on relative contribution to business development. Intense discussions surrounding Octavius’ terms and conditions, along with the resulting division of responsibilities, had adverse consequences for the founding team’s interpersonal dynamics.
The founders faced an urgent dilemma: How could they resolve their interpersonal issues to focus on startup growth?
