Gabriella Sahlman, co-founder and managing partner of Fuels Capital, writes for Sifted about joining a startup as a co-founder a year after it began. The piece, published as opinion on 8 September 2026, is titled "Am I a fake founder? What it's like joining a startup as a cofounder a year late".

Sifted's standfirst says Sahlman discovers that arriving later does not make her any less of a founder, and that the article offers tips for others in the same position. It is a contributed piece in her own voice, not Sifted's reporting on Fuels Capital.

Sahlman writes: "For me, the most important thing has been to make it clear that I'm here to build with the team, not to build a new version of the company around myself. You earn your place by contributing, and by making people around you better, too."
‍

Founding teams are not always complete on day one

This is also part of the 0TO9 model where a co-founder does not always join at the start. 0TO9 backs founders from the beginning and also helps them look for people who can strengthen the founding team, and that finding the right person can take months or even a year.
‍

Fuels Capital today

Sahlman is now building Fuels Capital with Oliver Hildebrandt, co-founder, and Robin Gerum, the company's CEO and co-founder.

The full opinion piece by Gabriella Sahlman on Sifted.