Finding the right co-founder is probably the most important decision when starting up. Here’s the most unconventional marker I used to decide to build with @PratyakshInani: By end of 2023, we had already worked together for nearly 3 years. We lived through the euphoria of the 2021 bull and the chaos of Terra and FTX meltdown. Took ideas from zero to multi-billion milestones with some incredible teammates. That kind of experience bonds you for life. At the time, I had stepped out of my previous role and was working with founders as an EIR, hunting for a problem worth building around. I kept bouncing DeFi ideas off Pratyaksh. When he decided to leave our previous company, it just clicked. > He was core mechanism focused, worked closely with engineering and traders > I was BD, growth, and product strategy Our personalities were also deeply complementary. To test the fit, Pratyaksh sent me a 7-page questionnaire. Not about ideas, but about life priorities, risk appetite, hiring preferences, and what we wanted from a company. We aligned on 80 percent, talked through another 10, and left the rest to be figured out while building. On paper, it looked like a great fit: > Years of working together > Complementary skills and personalities > Aligned on what we wanted to achieve as individuals and why But I still wanted to be sure. So I asked him to come with me to Cosmoverse 2023 in Istanbul. Over the years, I have realised - travel is the best way to learn about someone’s core - it reveals everything. It throws you into unpredictable situations and strips away the polish. @buntyverse joined us too, and eventually became core to Filament. At the time, Filament was just a rough idea - a compartment-based pool. We were pitching the concept casually, talking life, goals, and work styles while wandering through Istanbul. The trip threw us into every kind of moment: > Cornered by police, aggressively body-searched and threatened to be detained if failed to present physical passports at the spot > Nearly pickpocketed > Existential crisis mid-trip > Last-minute cruise > An unforgettable jazz bar and a Bosphorus sunset I’ll never forget That’s when I knew - whatever storm we face, I could go through it with Pratyaksh. A month later, we landed in Bangalore and started building Filament. 20 months in, after all the chaos, pivots, highs and hits, we haven’t broken. If anything, we’re stronger. The method worked. Most people either go with first instinct or textbook rules when choosing a co-founder. But this is more like finding a life partner. You need your own markers, your own rituals to test the fit. Filament is just one chapter, but I know I’ve found a lifelong venture partner - someone I can build with, again and again.

@apurvkaushal @PratyakshInani @FilamentFinance We revisit that questionnaire often, still. But now more through a monthly nerve check call, as I like to call it. Co-founder relationship is all about commitment and evolving - the day you lose the commitment and stop evolving in the relationship, best to walk away.