They say, do not mix business or finances with your friends. It's a statement that reflects the potential complexities and conflicts that can arise when personal relationships intertwine with financial interests.

One famous duo who arguably built the most influential social media platform in the world (and just as famously fell out) are Facebook’s co-founders, Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, who fell out over money and became embroiled in a legal battle (that earned them their own movie retelling, titled, The Social Network).

“My father found himself in this situation” Ali Youssef, Skillwork’s co-founder and co-CEO, tells me, “his business partner unfortunately chose money and success over their professional partnership and long-standing friendship, however, this didn’t deter him at all”. 

Ali’s father, born and raised in a refugee camp in Lebanonm moved, in his late teens, to what was then known as the People’s Republic of Bulgaria (before it ceased to be a socialist satellite state of the Soviet Union, in 1990). “Before the fall of Communism, my father built an import/export business alongside his friend, and together, they turned it into a real success. My father’s journey of going from poverty to having money, to shutting down his business when his co-founder decided to cross him, to rebuilding a whole new business again, it’s a real rags-to-riches story, and it's also the reason why my whole family has been exposed to ‘risk’ our entire lives”.

Ali tells me that risk isn’t a bad thing if managed properly, “It feels natural to me to take a chance on the unknown, risk is only a bad option if you haven’t done your research, haven’t got a backup plan (or two), and really, it teaches you how to be resilient. My fathers path in life showed us how to manage crises. I feel that it will always be a positive outcome on the other side, because ultimately, it's how you deal with it”.

Witnessing this throughout his childhood shaped Ali’s ethos on being an entrepreneur. It also gave him a lot to consider if he were to build a business alongside a friend: “I’ve been entrepreneurial my whole life. When I was 14 I built Minecraft servers which people paid for. I had a clothing company before I started university. My previous venture was one that I really loved, my sandwich shop. I got in touch with train platforms, I had pre-made sandwiches ready, I just really enjoy creating opportunities to fullfil the needs of a customer, because guess what, I am that customer! Although I wouldn’t change any of these experiences, the one thing I realised is that what I really wanted was to build something meaningful with a co-founder that I can trust, who wasn’t led by their ego and that had the same morals as I did”.

How Skillwork’s founders met

Skillwork’s co-founder and co-CEO, Jan Gasiewski met Ali during their Masters in Entrepreneurship and Business at University College London (UCL), “I first met Ali on Facebook actually. I put out a post asking if anyone would be up for grabbing a drink or some food. Ali responded and we made a plan to meet at Honest Burgers. Ali got lost and ended up at the wrong place, but despite this minor inconvenience, he finally arrived and the conversation naturally flowed. Our bond was instant. We both had stories that resonated and I knew that this was going to be a life-long friendship. Immediately after, everyone on our course knew us as a pair, and we ended up on projects and coursework together which, looking back, was a good testing ground for future collaboration.”

One of the stories that resonated with Jan – Ali’s stories of generational entrepreneurship. “My father also had a successful business, which got in trouble due to a dishonest business partner, and took years to recover. He instilled in us the importance of working with the right people as the wrong person can be the catalyst for a business’ downfall. I come from a family of lawyers, so being upfront, pragmatic and forward thinking became second nature for the family as we grew up in Poland.”

Similar to Ali, Jan’s own entrepreneurial journey also started throughout his teenage years giving them a lot to bond over. “I started a furniture store startup which began with modular desk organisers (made from wood, a marketable idea leaning into the rustic trend of the late 2000s, yet not as practical) where I got to indulge in one of my joys of buying and using machine drills. I was also a co-founder for a mobile app that provided users with health tips and tricks; it was downloaded thousands of times on launch day. I knew early on that I would be happiest building businesses for the rest of my life.”

How both founders started working together

Personalities have to mesh, and with Ali’s bold takes on life and business and Jan’s sensible approach and underrated sense of humour, it was a perfect match, “Ali and I knew that we were going to end up building something together. The words were never said, it kind of just happened.”

Ali adds: “He’s my brother. We’re both family-oriented, and we both ensure that we continue to be transparent, honest and fair with one another no matter what”.

This mindset reflects in the way both founders have decided to split the business. Both have 50/50 share of the business (they are self-funded, no investors), both are co-founders and co-CEOs and both have made a commitment to be part of a positive narrative around building businesses with pre-existing friends.

“Both Jan and I are immigrants, and one thing that immigrants tend to rely on is community. If I have something, but my neighbour does not, then we share, if your neighbour is down, then you help to bring them up. You cannot do anything without other people. That mindset stays with us. We are better as part of a group than as an individual, and money or success should not come in between two people who love and respect each other.

We know from our father’s journeys, and the types of relationships we see around us that doing things 50/50 is the only path for us. It's fair, we both keep each other accountable, we both cover for each other and we both ensure that there is nothing left unsaid. If something needs to be discussed, no matter how hard it is, we enter that conversation with respect and