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

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

#61

Post by kumph »

bshimmin wrote: post #59
kumph wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. :)

I've been known to print out the more objectionable emails from my clients and eat them... OK, great, you deliver food. If your AngelList profile is your main publicly visible page at this point, you should - in my humble opinion - make it really clear what it is your service actually does: however slowly I read "we send you a calendar of lunches from awesome local restaurants", it doesn't suggest to me that you actu…

That's a good point. Thanks.

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

#62

Post by [deleted] »

mhuffman wrote: post #60
crdb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you considered that some people with a head for business just might not grok programming? Bollocks to that. I was an FX trader who copy/pasted values for excel formula results because I was scared they'd go away if I typed something in another cell. It took a short while but I taught myself. Programming and technology are rational, a set of facts about the world that are inherently understandable at most level…

I get what you are saying but disagree with your original premise. It is akin to saying, "It is silly for a programer to not already be a businessman (businesswoman) when seeking a partner, because there are books and websites online and in just a few days he ought to be able to get by in the business world". It is nice for you that you made an MVP for yourself. Likewise it is nice that you have plenty of business co…

[deleted]

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

#63

Post by crdb »

mhuffman wrote: post #60
crdb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you considered that some people with a head for business just might not grok programming? Bollocks to that. I was an FX trader who copy/pasted values for excel formula results because I was scared they'd go away if I typed something in another cell. It took a short while but I taught myself. Programming and technology are rational, a set of facts about the world that are inherently understandable at most level…

I get what you are saying but disagree with your original premise. It is akin to saying, "It is silly for a programer to not already be a businessman (businesswoman) when seeking a partner, because there are books and websites online and in just a few days he ought to be able to get by in the business world". It is nice for you that you made an MVP for yourself. Likewise it is nice that you have plenty of business co…

Months, not days (really, this "I want it tomorrow" culture is quite harmful). And yes, I do think developers who become co-founders or C-levels should take some time to familiarize themselves with basic legal and financial concepts as well. Things like optionality and the time value of money, and protective provisions. And basic accounting. And, in our case, international tax and labour laws. Helps when those discussions come up. Helps filter out incompetent but slick sales types (after all, Sturgeon's Law also holds for businessmen).

Nevertheless, it's not black and white. I personally think that being familiar with a little bit from all the fields that you will eventually touch as a founder, is immensely value adding. But if you have a good network in a trustworthy environment, you can get away with not.

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

#64

Post by mhuffman »

crdb wrote: post #63
mhuffman wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get what you are saying but disagree with your original premise. It is akin to saying, "It is silly for a programer to not already be a businessman (businesswoman) when seeking a partner, because there are books and websites online and in just a few days he ought to be able to get by in the business world". It is nice for you that you made an MVP for yourself. Likewise it is nice that you have plenty of business co…

Months, not days (really, this "I want it tomorrow" culture is quite harmful). And yes, I do think developers who become co-founders or C-levels should take some time to familiarize themselves with basic legal and financial concepts as well. Things like optionality and the time value of money, and protective provisions. And basic accounting. And, in our case, international tax and labour laws. Helps when those discus…

There is a huge difference between knowing enough on a subject to do a "bullshit test", and what you recommended in your top post, which was for businessmen to go learn to program and make their own MVP. While an admirable goal, that seems ludicrous for most.

Obviously, if you are going to be an entrepreneur, you need to know your business, and that includes the high-points from all divisions, but that is a far cry from your first recommendation.

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

#65

Post by [deleted] »

mhuffman wrote: post #64
crdb wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Months, not days (really, this "I want it tomorrow" culture is quite harmful). And yes, I do think developers who become co-founders or C-levels should take some time to familiarize themselves with basic legal and financial concepts as well. Things like optionality and the time value of money, and protective provisions. And basic accounting. And, in our case, international tax and labour laws. Helps when those discus…

There is a huge difference between knowing enough on a subject to do a "bullshit test", and what you recommended in your top post, which was for businessmen to go learn to program and make their own MVP. While an admirable goal, that seems ludicrous for most. Obviously, if you are going to be an entrepreneur, you need to know your business, and that includes the high-points from all divisions, but that is a far cry f…

[deleted]

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

#66

Post by notduncansmith »

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…

The point is not for one person to, as you said, "be able to do everything in that company". The point is to have an appreciable respect for what others do, and have enough faith in your idea to take a solid crack at the parts you don't have an expert to handle yet. I'm not saying the CEO's MVP implementation has to be anything worth keeping. It can be a shoddy Wordpress mess, or even a very thorough clickable demo if they're afraid to touch code - but they should have something that demonstrates some thought put into the actual application (and that they value the skills I, as a potential CTO, bring to the table).

> If you not only develop, but have business connections and seed money, why court a CEO?

Because it takes more than connections and seed money to be a proper CEO. You need to have a strong sense of product direction, and the ability to steer the company in a successful way - something that a developer who has a few investor relationships and a bit of cash may well indeed lack.

> It is a million times better to have a well-connected and capable CEO, and a talented CTO than to have both a CEO and CTO that both are ok at business and ok at development.

I agree, and I don't recall saying anything to the contrary.

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