I'm an Entrepreneur. Whom to choose as my recommenders?

Hi there!

Just to throw out some more possibilities -- do you have a mentor whom you consult for guidance (that is, perhaps not a formal "investor" per se but someone whom you ask for advice on a regular basis and who could answer the questions the recommendations ask?). If not, then where you employed prior to starting the company -- could someone from that job be a writer?

Maybe a good way to think about it is to reverse-engineer who the recommender should be based upon the questions the reccs ask for.

They usually give a grid of traits and ask the recommender to rank you on those traits. Then, they ask 2 written questions (aside from describing how they know you):

They will want to know the positive impact you've had on the organization

They'll want to know about a time that person gave you negative feedback and how you responded to it

So part of this exercise might be to take out a sheet of paper with three columns: names of potential recommenders, which evidence they could give for positive impact, and which story they would give for "negative feedback".

The person who could write the STRONGEST answers to those questions (the ones that put you in the best light) is the person you should choose.

Either way, it looks like you might need to write a quick explanation somewhere in the application, as to EITHER:

Why the client only has a gmail address and not a company email (do they not even have a website for their company? Setting up a company email address is a pretty trivial / easy thing to do if they already own a domain name?) -- if they have a website, perhaps you could at least point to THAT to prove that this is indeed a real company

If, after all this, you honestly have NOwhere else to go other than your co-founder, then in the explanation for choosing your recommender (for some schools this might be in the "optional essay") , I would address the "elephant in the room" point-blank, by writing something like: "I have chosen my co-founder as one of my recommenders, since (s)he has had a front row seat to my impact and my growth over the past X years. I realize that there may be some concern about a co-founder's candor for a recommendation, but I have spoken at length with her/him about its importance, and (s)he has promised to be as candid as possible". --- then, the co-founder would need to submit a truly balanced recommendation (that is, citing actual failures / weaknesses on your part) so that it's clear to them that this person does not have a hidden agenda

Does this help?


Thanks!,
Maria