Some of the most fruitful creative partnerships start as friendships.

Paul McCartney and George Harrison of The Beatles met on a bus on their way to school and connected over a shared love of music. The pair didn’t always get along when it came to creative choices. But they stayed friends through their differences and pushed each other to be better.

From U2 and The Black Keys to Radiohead and Boyz II Men, lots of bands met as teenagers and started making music together when they were young. But it goes far beyond the art of song…

Most people know Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were childhood buddies. They caught the acting bug from each other, landing a gig as unseen extras in Field of Dreams long before their Oscar-winning collaboration Goodwill Hunting.

South Park and The Book of Mormon creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, met in college. They bonded over a shared love of Monty Python and started working on student films together. An animated short that was the impetus for South Park became one of the internet’s first viral videos.

Creative friendships can mean big business too. The co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream met in middle school gym class.

“Running around the track, we were the two slowest, fattest kids in class.”

Ben Cohen, on meeting his friend and co-founder, Jerry Greenfield

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak grew up in the same neighborhood too. After a mutual friend introduced them, the Steves started working on tech projects and pulling pranks together. They’d go on to revolutionize personal computing.

Of course, the point isn’t that your childhood friends are your best chance at the perfect creative partnerships. The point is that having a friend who shares your interests, trusts your feedback, complements your skills, and encourages you to do your best work, is worth their weight in gold.

Where do you find that?

The best way to form a creative friendship? Just start playing and having fun.

You don’t have to be a kid. You can start now.