Choosing Accountability Partners

4 min read

Accountability partners are the people who receive your weekly progress reports. Choose the right ones and you'll feel genuine pressure to perform.

Who Should You Choose?

The best accountability partners are people you genuinely don't want to disappoint. Not because they'll be mean, but because their opinion matters to you.

Great choices:

Your investors: They already have a stake in your success
Mentors or advisors: People whose respect you've earned and want to keep
Other founders: Peers who understand the struggle
A spouse or partner: Someone who sees the sacrifice and cares about the outcome

Note: Your co-founders should be in Pre with you, working on the same sprint. They'll see everything directly in the app.

Don't pick people who will just say "nice job" no matter what. Pick people whose silence will sting.

How Many Partners?

Start with 2-3. Enough to create real pressure, not so many that the reports feel impersonal.

If you have a lot of investors, create an email alias on your domain (like investors@yourcompany.com) and add that as a single accountability partner. The weekly update will go to everyone on that list.

What They Receive

Every week, your accountability partners get an automated email showing:

Your weekly goals and their status (done, partial, not done)
Your progress toward your North Star
A visual representation of your sprint so far

You don't have to write anything. Your dashboard is your update.

The Psychology

When you know someone you respect is going to see whether you did what you said you'd do, you're more likely to do it.

This isn't about shame. It's about raising the stakes just enough to overcome the resistance you feel toward hard work.

The best accountability partners don't even need to respond to your updates. Just knowing they'll see them is enough.

Changing Partners

You can add or remove accountability partners at any time. If someone isn't creating the right pressure, swap them out.