Today, I had a good chat with a founder friend. He mentioned an idea that I thought about for the rest of the day. Sometimes, early-stage founders struggle to reach their next milestones. They know what they want to do to get there, but they don’t have the necessary skills. Their weaknesses hold them back, and they can’t afford people with high-level expertise. However, they often know tons of other founders—and some are strong where they are weak. And vice versa.

My friend’s observation was that early founders, especially those who are bootstrapping, may be able to complement each other temporarily. For example, Bob struggles with marketing but is strong in engineering. John is a killer marketer, but nontechnical. Instead of complaining to each other about not being able to afford or find high-level talent to get them to the next milestone, maybe the two entrepreneurs should temporarily partner with each other. Bob helps John with his technical problems. John helps Bob market his software. Again, temporarily.

My friend took this even further and suggested that these two founders not accept cash compensation. Instead, they pay each other with a very small amount of equity ownership in their respective companies. This aligns interests, helps both companies be capital efficient, and allows each to get high-level talent it otherwise couldn’t access (or afford). Again temporarily. Of course, vesting and other things would need to be clearly outlined.

My friend’s thesis was that certain high-level expertise can make a big difference in the early days. It can help you reach those critical milestones, but it isn’t a full-time job. It’s more of a gap that needs to be filled until you have sufficient traction and resources to hire someone full-time. Also, discussing strategy with another founder who has expertise in a critical area makes those strategy conversations richer and results in better ideas and solutions. Lastly, no one goes as hard as founders. Having a founder on your side, even part-time, can be a game changer.