Unfortunately, founder-dating is the same as normal dating but probably even harder as the stakes are higher. It's very difficult to find same "motivation-level" people (how much do they "want" it, are they as "hungry" as you, etc.) and it is very hard to gauge with talk as you have to see their actions to really know and sometimes it may be too late. At the same time, there is also the "stage in life" (single, marri…
I feel like spending 1000$ a month on sailing is not a great way to meet people from all walks of life. :(
This is a semi serious answer but... If we were not in the middle of COVID I would say to take a trip to Atlanta. In the Atlanta startup community there is no shortage of MBA and marketing types with lots of ideas that are just looking for a developer who is willing to work for next to nothing and equity that is much smaller than it should be. Of course all of these business types will tell you about how they are the…
The non-technical entrepreneur-MBA types tend to over-value their business "ideas" and want 2/3 of the company. Because it was "their idea". Be careful.
> I suspect it was after they hired people that weren't engineers to help For years, they required that all their hires could program, even those in completely unrelated roles.
I suppose this might explain why all google products have terrible UX, to this day. But it's not really an argument against non-technical co-founders. Steve Jobs was non-technical, I think it's safe to assume Woz's Apple would have been less successful.
But he definitely had a technical background (working at Atari) and he knew his way around a circuit (compared to people one could classify as non-technical)
You'd be surprised. VCs will often respond to cold calls because part of their job is to cultivate connections with people who will be starting the Next Big Thing. The best way to do that is to get them into their rolodex before they get on anyone else's radar. But be careful what you wish for. Getting the cold call response and even the first meeting is relatively easy. But it is also easy to exhibit a level of clue…
Why would you get blackballed for being clueless? Are founders suppose to come equipped with how to speak VC jargon? Aren’t VCs suppose to find unpolished talent with the ability to execute, invest and be a resource to make them successful?
Being clueless != not knowing the jargon. In fact, one of the most common forms of cluelessness is throwing jargon around in a misguided attempt to show that you know things that you actually don't. Being clueless means not knowing something that you really should have known, and that does not include jargon. I'll give you an example from my own experience: I had a meeting with a name-brand VC during which I levied some harsh criticism at a company that it turned out that they had invested in, indicating that I either didn't know they had invested in it or that I did know and was just being obnoxious. Either way, I was exhibiting cluelessness. One of the many things you are expected to know before talking to any VC is all the information on their web site: their portfolio companies, who the partners are, where they spent their careers, what their investment thesis is. Happily, that one mistake was not enough to actually get me blackballed throughout the industry, but I never had another meeting with anyone at that firm.
From Paul Graham ( http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html ): > The good news is, choosing problems is something that can be learned. I know that from experience. Hackers can learn to make things customers want. [6] >This is a controversial view. One expert on "entrepreneurship" told me that any startup had to include business people, because only they could focus on what customers wanted. I'll probably alienate this g…
You're forgetting Infoseek, which was a dramatically better search engine than anything else out there (including Google, Excite, and Yahoo), until it was bought by Disney/Go and was emasculated before finally being dumbed-down literally to the point of uselessness.
Fastest company to reach $100m ARR [1]: Slack - 3 years Twilio - ~5 years ServiceNow - 6 years Shopify - 7 years [1] https://www.bvp.com/bvp-nasdaq-emerging-cloud-index
This list is saas companies. Its missing all consumer brands.
Compaq grew nearly as fast as some of those SaaS companies, and was engaged in design, manufacturing and sales of a complex technology product that actually had to work, not just buggy web software. IIRC, they reached $1B faster than any company ever at the time. SaaS and "sharing" economy (really skimming economy) apps are not sustainable, but then as it turned out, neither was Compaq, after they entered into a stupid mergers...
For context: I am a software engineer and angel investor that specializes in early stage exits. I have built and exited multiple startups together with a bunch of wonderful people over the years. The problem you are describing is not unique in any way, shape or form. I coach dozens of startups every year and your problem is more common than you might think. When I first started, I was just like you. I had no one to t…
Hi Wesam! What a great comment! It should be its own HN article; it's information-rich, and you make a lot of good points!
Unfortunately, founder-dating is the same as normal dating but probably even harder as the stakes are higher. It's very difficult to find same "motivation-level" people (how much do they "want" it, are they as "hungry" as you, etc.) and it is very hard to gauge with talk as you have to see their actions to really know and sometimes it may be too late. At the same time, there is also the "stage in life" (single, marri…
I feel like spending 1000$ a month on sailing is not a great way to meet people from all walks of life. :(
> sailing is not a great way to meet people from all walks of life. :(
To be fair, they're looking for co-founders which may not require meeting people from all walks of life.
Unfortunately, founder-dating is the same as normal dating but probably even harder as the stakes are higher. It's very difficult to find same "motivation-level" people (how much do they "want" it, are they as "hungry" as you, etc.) and it is very hard to gauge with talk as you have to see their actions to really know and sometimes it may be too late. At the same time, there is also the "stage in life" (single, marri…
Basically, go hang with rich people. It’s probably not bad advice. I’m not entirely sure why but it makes me a bit sad to think about.
They can't be "too rich" where they are financially retired (they are not going to be in the same motivation level) but at least have some disposable income to engage in such an activity. It's a self-selecting network.
Why do people pay $150k to get an MBA at Harvard if you can pay $20k somewhere else and maybe get the EXACT same education? It's because you know 99% of the people there paid $150k and you have a "better" network.