Ask HN: Can we brainstorm a better way to find a co-founder?

Post by crdb » Sun, Jun 07, 2015, 6:00 PM UTC

joeyspn wrote: post #43

alain94040 wrote: post #6

I gave a presentation on "how to find a co-founder" several times. Guess what: by slide 2, I give away the answer: the best co-founder is someone you already worked with. Not helpful? That's the truth. Instead of trying to find a co-founder quickly, find a good contributor to your project. They may grow into becoming a co-founder over time, or they may "just" be your first employee. No one can really tell until time…

> ... the best co-founder is someone you already worked with. Not helpful? That's the truth. Not really. I started-up with a co-worker (of 2 years) and a guy whom I hadn't worked with before and guess who was the first to bring problems to the company and quit? The guy I previously worked with... Truth is you don't really know a person until you're both in a seriously f*ckd up situation. That's what my experience has…

Post by jameshush » Sun, Jun 07, 2015, 6:38 PM UTC

mhuffman wrote: post #36

notduncansmith wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that technical people are the only ones who can build something is one of the things that drives me away from most potential business cofounders. There are plenty of tools and free online resources that within a month or so, you should have the skills to hack some kind of prototype together in a reasonable amount of time. Lack of investigation into any of those opportunities signals to me that either a) the…

Wow! Where to start with this. Have you considered that some people with a head for business just might not grok programming? And vice-versa? Even if they do, have you considered that an amateurish prototype, that looks and acts like shit, might turn off some viable early-round potential partners? The second point is even more ridiculous. If you not only develop, but have business connections and seed money, why cour…

Post by bshimmin » Sun, Jun 07, 2015, 7:09 PM UTC

kumph wrote: post #50

bshimmin wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That article does little to justify the "X for Y" meme. The reason for it is that "X" is famous and successful already and people are trying to capitalise on that, and because a three word summary is pithy and easy to remember. As to your startup - Pandora is a streaming radio service which actually, you know, streams radio, as a service. Emailing lunch menus (or calendars, or whatever) is not as to lunch as streamin…

If you agree with the underlying premise that a good high concept pitch is essential to a startup, then those seem like pretty good reasons to adopt this sort of meme, at least if the comparison holds. Anyway, I'm surprised you don't see how this particular comparison holds. Pandora auto-suggests and delivers musical content over the course of a few hours or so. Forkable auto-suggests and delivers "nutritional conten…

Post by sharemywin » Sun, Jun 07, 2015, 7:24 PM UTC

paulscliu wrote: post #5

My approach is the following: 1. Learn to code 2. Build the prototype 3. Try to sell the prototype to verify the market 4. Bootstrap the business 5. Get the business going then people (co-founder, investor,etc...) will show up

Post by bshimmin » Sun, Jun 07, 2015, 8:26 PM UTC

kumph wrote: post #58

bshimmin wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pandora delivers music that you can listen to; unless your startup delivers food that I can eat, I don't really see how the two are all that similar - unless you're suggesting people print out the emails and then eat them. But hey, perhaps I'm too stupid for your startup (usually I just make a sandwich for lunch, so I'll probably cope either way!).

I see the where confusion is coming from. We do in fact deliver the food. I stated that in the above comment. It's also in our AngelList profile and I alluded to it in my first response ("let the good food come"). You don't seem stupid to me. But perhaps you are reading too quickly? The image of people printing out emails and eating them is pretty amusing, though. :)