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Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

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Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#11

Post by tmpz22 »

Taek wrote: post #9

Question for HN: I cannot imagine starting a company with a stranger. There are so many intense moments, points of extreme trust, and ways for things to go wrong, so much passion, and so much blending of self and company, that I wouldn't ever feel comfortable embarking with someone that I didn't know incredibly well as a cofounder. Are there reasons to believe that starting with a stranger as a cofounder will general…

Devils advocate, Tinder ends with plenty of long term relationships. Ultimately much of founderdom is a crap shoot because you never know what your partner will turn into three years from now with money on the table. Truly obvious good founders who have lots of experience or proven connections are few and far between such that for the average startup rolling the dice may be just as effective as picking your best friend.

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#12

Post by gnicholas »

tmpz22 wrote: post #11
Taek wrote: post #9

Question for HN: I cannot imagine starting a company with a stranger. There are so many intense moments, points of extreme trust, and ways for things to go wrong, so much passion, and so much blending of self and company, that I wouldn't ever feel comfortable embarking with someone that I didn't know incredibly well as a cofounder. Are there reasons to believe that starting with a stranger as a cofounder will general…

Devils advocate, Tinder ends with plenty of long term relationships. Ultimately much of founderdom is a crap shoot because you never know what your partner will turn into three years from now with money on the table. Truly obvious good founders who have lots of experience or proven connections are few and far between such that for the average startup rolling the dice may be just as effective as picking your best frie…

> Tinder ends with plenty of long term relationships

Sure, and some people go there looking for that. Most go there looking for short term enjoyment and possible long term relationships. That doesn't map onto the cofounder search. There is not much value in having the equivalent of "a couple dates" with at potential cofounder. And some people would actually see it as a negative, if they're worried (rightly or wrongfully) about their idea being stolen.

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#13

Post by gnicholas »

generalpass wrote: post #7
synchronizing wrote: post #2

Interesting idea with likely unwanted consequences. Browsed it for 10 minutes and it seems the vast majority of posts are "looking for technical co-founder to program my idea."

Similarly: Cofounders looking for salesperson to work for commission only.

I think this idea actually has a better chance of working, for a couple reasons:

• There is less risk in starting the relationship. You're not divvying up shares in a company or even paying a fixed salary. The only thing you stand to lose is the time spent figuring out the comp structure

• Founders don't have to open up quite as much about the business, and worry that their idea will be stolen/copied. This is partly because founders seeking salespeople will be further along (alpha version or later), and partly because there's less of a fear that a salesperson will start a copycat company than an engineer (because of skills, not intrinsic honesty).

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#14

Post by mLuby »

synchronizing wrote: post #2

Interesting idea with likely unwanted consequences. Browsed it for 10 minutes and it seems the vast majority of posts are "looking for technical co-founder to program my idea."

Look at no-code platforms if you must, but probably you can launch your business with just a website (not app) and an email address.

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#15

Post by edoceo »

Taek wrote: post #9

Question for HN: I cannot imagine starting a company with a stranger. There are so many intense moments, points of extreme trust, and ways for things to go wrong, so much passion, and so much blending of self and company, that I wouldn't ever feel comfortable embarking with someone that I didn't know incredibly well as a cofounder. Are there reasons to believe that starting with a stranger as a cofounder will general…

One should go on many dates before getting married. It's true for Tinder and co-founders. Startup Weekend is/was a great way to execute these dates.

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#16

Post by gwbas1c »

asdf21 wrote: post #8
ChefboyOG wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My advice to people looking for a "technical cofounder" is always to learn to code—and not in a snarky, "learn to build it yourself" way. Having even a cursory ability to code and a CS50 level understanding of computers will give you enough context to vet the plausibility of ideas, and give you the ability to articulate them in terms that might interest an engineer, as opposed to just saying "An app for investing in…

I spent years doing this, but I would still need / want a technical co-founder for my ideas. Now I'm a technical manager who can code pretty well, but that's not really all that helpful to launch something legit and complex.

>> My advice to people looking for a "technical cofounder" is always to learn to code—and not in a snarky, "learn to build it yourself" way.

> I spent years doing this, but I would still need / want a technical co-founder for my ideas

There's two reasons why a non-technical founder should learn to code:

1: To get past the "computers can read minds" trap, and to have a high level understanding of what's going on under the hood. (Elon Musk knows an awful lot about how his cars work.)

2: For the same reason CTOs need to understand topics like product-market fit.

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#17

Post by anewguy9000 »

Taek wrote: post #9

Question for HN: I cannot imagine starting a company with a stranger. There are so many intense moments, points of extreme trust, and ways for things to go wrong, so much passion, and so much blending of self and company, that I wouldn't ever feel comfortable embarking with someone that I didn't know incredibly well as a cofounder. Are there reasons to believe that starting with a stranger as a cofounder will general…

not starting at all?

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#18

Post by generalpass »

gnicholas wrote: post #13
generalpass wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similarly: Cofounders looking for salesperson to work for commission only.

I think this idea actually has a better chance of working, for a couple reasons: • There is less risk in starting the relationship. You're not divvying up shares in a company or even paying a fixed salary. The only thing you stand to lose is the time spent figuring out the comp structure • Founders don't have to open up quite as much about the business, and worry that their idea will be stolen/copied. This is partly…

> I think this idea actually has a better chance of working, for a couple reasons:

> • There is less risk in starting the relationship. You're not divvying up shares in a company or even paying a fixed salary. The only thing you stand to lose is the time spent figuring out the comp structure

> • Founders don't have to open up quite as much about the business, and worry that their idea will be stolen/copied. This is partly because founders seeking salespeople will be further along (alpha version or later), and partly because there's less of a fear that a salesperson will start a copycat company than an engineer (because of skills, not intrinsic honesty).

For a salesperson you want to work with, they are making minimum $15k per month. Why are they even going to talk to you when you aren't offering equity or money? Do you think that cold-calling is fun-time?

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#19

Post by ChefboyOG »

gnicholas wrote: post #13
generalpass wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similarly: Cofounders looking for salesperson to work for commission only.

I think this idea actually has a better chance of working, for a couple reasons: • There is less risk in starting the relationship. You're not divvying up shares in a company or even paying a fixed salary. The only thing you stand to lose is the time spent figuring out the comp structure • Founders don't have to open up quite as much about the business, and worry that their idea will be stolen/copied. This is partly…

There is way more risk from the salesperson's side, especially if you're not divvying up shares.

If you're a salesperson looking at either taking a job at an established company with a proven product and a pipeline of leads, or a startup with no traction and no proven product, the only thing that could possibly incentivize you towards the startup would be equity and (potentially) an insane commission rate. With no equity, you're doing a much harder job with less upside and significantly more downside.

Re: Show HN: FoundersList – Looking for a cofounder or a new startup to work on?

#20

Post by peterangular »

synchronizing wrote: post #2

Interesting idea with likely unwanted consequences. Browsed it for 10 minutes and it seems the vast majority of posts are "looking for technical co-founder to program my idea."

Yep - those who can build this stuff don't devalue yourself even in these weird times... Truth is you're going to make WAY more money in the long run by consulting your services out building these platforms vs. taking ownership in a company that may never make it. Payment up-front vs. percentage ownership in an entity that doesn't yet exist is almost always the better option.

Why? Here's the hard truth - 90% of these won't EVER see profit, and you'll likely sink a TON of time (and potentially money) into something that doesn't necessarily ever pay out vs. scratching the "I'm an entrepreneur!" itch.

Doesn't stop fools like myself from circling back to the startup arena though ever few years after refilling the coffers, but it's only healthy to look at this stuff as "gambling" or "fishing" vs. having any real expectations for success.

That all being said - risk is the only way we grow!

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