Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

founderslist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 69 posts

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

#51

Post by gnicholas »

generalpass wrote: post #45
gnicholas wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you lose a contact by seeing if they’re interested in a new product/service?

> How do you lose a contact by seeing if they’re interested in a new product/service? From the perspective of the prospect, the salesperson is making a recommendation. If the startup fails to deliver, then it can cause a lot of problems in the relationship.

Sure, you'd want to make sure you don't over-promise, and of course the buyer would realize they're buying from a startup (and presumably getting a discount as an early adopter). Anyway, my point is just that this sort of matching service could work out in some circumstances, and it is in some ways easier than trying to match founders who are sharing equity.

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

#52

Post by astatine »

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…

Every friend was once a stranger. Pithy as it sounds, I have found people who make friends almost at first sight. I find it tough to do this, but know many people who would cheerfully call each other (and behave like) friends after a meeting or two.

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

#53

Post by eloff »

TenJack wrote: post #48
eloff wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is more like if you married the first person who agreed to go out with you on tinder. Which is probably a petty lousy idea. I don't see how starting a company with a stranger is going to have better results. There will always be exceptions, but it seems like a bad idea.

But you don't marry the first person you meet on Tinder. You go on dates with the person. I would imagine you can go on "dates" with potential cofounders as well.

Are you going to "date" them for years before launching out on your endeavor?

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

#54

Post by eloff »

lukifer wrote: post #44
eloff wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is more like if you married the first person who agreed to go out with you on tinder. Which is probably a petty lousy idea. I don't see how starting a company with a stranger is going to have better results. There will always be exceptions, but it seems like a bad idea.

I don't think the idea is to pick someone at random; it's more like speed dating, where you check for initial chemistry and aligned interests, and then decide if you want to take it further. Maybe you even do some due diligence and check references. You're perhaps incurring more risk, compared to a friend/colleague you've known for 10 years; but then, there may also be a reward in connecting with a talented mind who…

I'm not saying it can't work, or that starting a startup with an old friend can't fail. But I know which one I'd bet on. So do VCs.

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

#55

Post by rapnie »

roshanj wrote: post #49
werber wrote: post #22

Does anyone know of something similar for matching technical people with non profits? I’m suddenly filled with free time and want to find a non profit with short term technical needs. Ideally looking to help lgbtq organizations if that helps

Check out https://ovio.org/ -- they target matching developers with Open Source projects, and many of them are for non-profit causes (several COVID-19 related projects right now: https://explore.ovio.org/covid-19 )

I couldn't easily determine, but they seem a for-profit company. Do you know what their business model is?

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

#56

Post by jlokier »

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…

So you have a dream. You've always had a dream.

You want to start a company, you know what you want to make, to provide.

You've been itching to do this for years.

You think, "I can only do this with someone I know incredibly well, who has the right personality traits and skills".

What are you going to do with your dream if you don't know anyone like that?

Grow old and die waiting?

Those years are passing by, and you still haven't met the right co-founder among your friends...

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

#57

Post by lend000 »

If you are fortunate enough to have some capital in this crisis, what better opportunity will you have in your life to start a company? A significant amount of incumbents (a.k.a. your competition) will be wiped out or have reduced market share when the economy starts back up, and there will be unique challenges and opportunities in the post-covid world.

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

#58

Post by rijoja »

werber wrote: post #22

Does anyone know of something similar for matching technical people with non profits? I’m suddenly filled with free time and want to find a non profit with short term technical needs. Ideally looking to help lgbtq organizations if that helps

Hi, not LBQT strictly even though there's an ideological underpinning in the project that aims to help those.

What I'm doing short term is to try to enable people with disabilities to write on computers.

I noticed that this might fill a gap in VR usage for productive purposes.

At heart I want to be openminded and work honestly against the truth so I'd like to set up a non profit to further this research.

Have a lot of cool ideas. Can't do very much atm as I ran out of funds was forced to apply for a job. Now my hands are a bit tied by the IP clause in my contract.

http://tbf-rnd.life

trbefrrnd at gmail.com

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

#59

Post by rysanna »

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…

Yeah, I've been burnt more than once because of "bad" co-founders.

And "bad" can have many definitions: they can be great friends but lack the entrepreneurial spirit, you may feel like they do less than you – even though they have just as many shares, or they do something that proves you can't trust them... plus so many other scenarios.

In a perfect world, you would be able to pick and choose from people who are trustworthy, great to hang out with, super skilled and willing to give up a stable job to risk building a startup. But in the real world, most people lack at least a couple of those things and you have to compromise.

I would be super cautious starting a company with a stranger. But... Finding a developer who's a friend willing to work for free (for a promise of future returns, that is) is super hard, and I'm actually talking to a potential co-founder met via FoundersList now.

My first three steps to verify whether building a startup together makes sense would be:

1. Get to know each other, talk a few times, see if you like each other and the vibe is right. Travel together for a few days if you can (which may be tough right now) – that can be a real test of whether you can stand to be with each other and how you react to different situations.

2. Work on something small together. Maybe a pre-MVP version of your app or one feature. No commitment until it's ready.

3. If it turns out you worked together well and delivered something good without jumping at each other's throats and you feel good about it, then go ahead and build that big thing as co-founders.

Just make sure to have a written agreement that determines what happens if one of the founders decides to leave, how decisions are made, etc. – it may seem like too much in the beginning but it will save you a lot of stress and fighting over "silly" stuff later on.

---

"Choosing the wrong co-founders" is actually one of the top startup mistakes for me.

If you would like to read about more, here's an article I wrote some time ago about the top 11 startup mistakes I wish I don't ever make again: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-fail-can-less-making-othe....

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

#60

Post by a_imho »

jlokier wrote: post #56
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…

So you have a dream. You've always had a dream. You want to start a company, you know what you want to make, to provide. You've been itching to do this for years. You think, "I can only do this with someone I know incredibly well, who has the right personality traits and skills". What are you going to do with your dream if you don't know anyone like that? Grow old and die waiting? Those years are passing by, and you…

Go solopreneur? If it was your idea, you will probably have a hard time getting anyone on board with it to the extent you care about it.
Post reply on HN