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From PWC Financial Forensics to Founder's Edge GP: Building WishRoute Through Partnership Challenges and Now Investing in AI-Driven Startups
Jess went from financial forensics at PWC to building WishRoute (text message marketing for healthcare behavior change), navigating a co-founder breakup and reunion before achieving an M&A exit in 2023. Now as GP of Founder's Edge, she invests first checks in experienced founders at the intersection of AI and user experience while using data-driven founder evaluation instead of gut instinct to make better partnership decisions.
Follow Jess: LinkedIn | Founder's Edge
While everyone focuses on product-market fit and fundraising, Jess reveals the hidden startup killer: 65% of businesses fail because of co-founder relationship issues, not market problems. This statistic drives her approach to partnership evaluation, both as a former founder and current investor.
Her experience building WishRoute taught her that co-founder relationships are more complex than marriage because there's less forgiveness, no legal binding, and enormous financial pressure. The breakup and reunion with her technical co-founder ultimately led to a stronger team when they brought in a head of engineering to complement both their skills.
"Co-founder relationships break as many businesses as they help. Like the data shows 65% of businesses fail because of co-founder relationships. It's not like it's gonna save your company. It could break it more likely than save it."
Before committing to any co-founder relationship, Jess developed what she calls the "airport test" - spending extended time together in potentially stressful situations to see how you both handle pressure and whether you actually enjoy each other's company when things get difficult.
Through her WishRoute experience, she learned that mismatched communication and collaboration styles can create significant friction in co-founder relationships. Some founders prefer synchronous work sessions while others work better asynchronously. Some make quick decisions while others need time to process. These differences can be identified early through intentional testing periods.
"Those types of collaboration and communication styles are just so much easier, even if you have diverse thought, if you have the same collaboration and communication styles."
As both a founder who raised capital and now an investor, Jess identified a pattern that impacts funding success: the disconnect between pitch deck quality and team presentation on LinkedIn. Investors evaluate pitch decks, then immediately research the founding team's profiles to assess credibility and relevant experience.
She noticed that technical team members often have sparse LinkedIn profiles that don't effectively communicate their expertise, while non-technical founders may hesitate to push their technical partners to optimize their professional presentation. This creates a team credibility gap that can hurt fundraising efforts, especially when every detail matters in competitive funding environments.
"I actually wrote out all the things I look at on LinkedIn profiles and all the green, yellow, red flags. When you're trying to attract talent, a co-founder, you first do have to prove that there's something there."
The Challenge: Most founders rush into co-founder relationships without properly testing compatibility and working styles.
Jess's Solution: Implement a two-phase testing approach:
How to Apply: Before offering equity or co-founder titles, create 2-3 small paid projects that mirror real working conditions. Pay attention to how they handle feedback, meet deadlines, and communicate under pressure. Use this data to decide on partnership structure.
Jess shared five battle-tested frameworks from her experience building WishRoute, achieving M&A exit, and now evaluating hundreds of founding teams as a VC. Get immediate access to the remaining frameworks:
✅ The Founder Index Evaluation System (50-60 Questions)
✅ The Equity Vesting with Milestone Structure
✅ The LinkedIn Profile Optimization Strategy for Teams
✅ The 30-50 Coffee Meeting Co-Founder Search Process
Plus bonus content:
Join 200+ female founders getting exclusive fundraising insights, investor resources, and peer support as they build venture-scale companies.
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