I founded a company with my best friend

• Jason Rivers founded Oasis Energy Drink with his best friend, Wesley Fowler.
• Both met playing Pee-Wee football three decades ago.
• Rivers says their supplementary strengths make the business successful.

This strong essay — to based on a conversation with Jason Riversassociate of Oasis. Hasten edited for length and clarity.

Wesley Fowler and I have been friends since the fourth grade. This is when we met, playing football outside Atlanta, where we grew up. We have all played together throughout high school and high school. Our families were intertwined and we were the best friends. I was even a bridegroom at Wes’s wedding.

We have always had an interest in becoming entrepreneurs together. I have been a serial entrepreneur, with some successful ventures than others. Wes has worked mainly in the corporate world, though it has also been drawn to enterprises.

A time back, we led a promotional company in Atlanta together. It worked well, but Wes left about three months inside. Since then, we have always talked about possible collaborations. Two years ago, we found one we thought would really work: Oasis, a natural energy drink.

Our compliment skills are our superpower

Working with WES is not my first time starting a business with a friend. I had a company with a friend in the past but didn’t go well. I managed to save friendship – recently I participated in an NFL game with it – but the company was just not supposed to be.

What makes things work well with WES is that its strengths are my weaknesses, and vice versa. I came with the idea for Oasis, but Wes is the market genius that brought my idea to life. I am good with numbers and operations, while he has a creativity I envy. When we unite those strengths, it feels like we have a super power.

One thing we have in common is that we like to do things with a sense of urgency. We never allow problems to accumulate, and we are constantly working in the company together, even when this means late night phone calls after our families are asleep.

We keep our friendship in the forefront

Friendship is still the foundation of our relationship. We have been friends for 31 years now and business partners for two years. We first connect with one another with man with man. Sometimes, this means understanding family obligations. My kids are older, but Wes have two young children and is at a more intense phase of parenting. I make sure he has room for this.

Since we have such a long history, we are not caught by the ego. We respect and trust each other, but we are not trying to prove anything. Sometimes, I will get to a call thinking that I know exactly what direction we should take. Wes will have another idea. I am quite humble that I can hear it and change my mind if what he says makes sense.

We also give each other a lot of autonomy. Wes makes marketing decisions without the need for OK TIME, and I do the same on the side of the operations. This liberates us to spend our time together by talking about greater decisions.

We are used to solving problems together

Being an entrepreneur implies the constant solution of problems. We have had a lot over the last two years, but we have been able to work through them all because of our friendship. I and I both have high emotional intelligence and we never lose our tempters. We can tell each other when we need more time to think about a decision, and we are confident that we are in this together. After 31 years, we would not know anything else.