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Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

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Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#31

Post by 999900000999 »

exolymph wrote: post #16

Cofounder matching is a market for lemons, much like online dating. The best prospects are either never on the open market, or get snapped up very quickly. So it's always a problem of sorting through many low-quality options to find diamonds in the rough (and if you can find one, upgrading a rough diamond to a shiny diamond is still a nontrivial process). Point being, cofounder matching is inherently a frustrating gr…

To be fair, I've met plenty of idea guys in real life. I can't imagine the internet somehow being worse.

It's always ' I want Multi billion dollar company X combined with multi billion dollar company Z. Build this for me in exchange for 2.5% equity vested over 5 years.'

Then if you do waste a weekend on a POC you'll hear it doesn't match their vision. You don't even get a thank you from these jerks.

TBH I've given up on starting a tech company completely, I work a 9-5 and then make small games afterwards.

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#32

Post by lagniappe »

999900000999 wrote: post #31
exolymph wrote: post #16

Cofounder matching is a market for lemons, much like online dating. The best prospects are either never on the open market, or get snapped up very quickly. So it's always a problem of sorting through many low-quality options to find diamonds in the rough (and if you can find one, upgrading a rough diamond to a shiny diamond is still a nontrivial process). Point being, cofounder matching is inherently a frustrating gr…

To be fair, I've met plenty of idea guys in real life. I can't imagine the internet somehow being worse. It's always ' I want Multi billion dollar company X combined with multi billion dollar company Z. Build this for me in exchange for 2.5% equity vested over 5 years.' Then if you do waste a weekend on a POC you'll hear it doesn't match their vision. You don't even get a thank you from these jerks. TBH I've given up…

Make the POC your business, call yourself a market-fit engineer and "yes, right away" all the way to early retirement.

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#33

Post by threeseed »

robust-cactus wrote: post #22

I've heard it works and it has caused companies to form and get funded. I signed up like 1 week ago and I'm a 2nd time founder. It depends on your expectations and how you configure it is my read. For me, even though I'm technical, I'm mostly looking for other technical founders. Other than that, the thing I mainly want to feel when I read a profile is a sense of "oh this person would be fun to jam on ideas with" and…

> and it has caused companies to form and get funded

I am far more interested in what percentage fail because of a breakdown in the founder relationship.

It's easy to start a company and get funded, when you have a great team. It's very difficult to maintain that relationship for a decade or more.

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#34

Post by todd3834 »

The idea of co-founder matching feels like a dating app for rushing into marriage. It is definitely possible it can work out but it seems like a long shot. If I were going to start a startup today, I'd want to do as much as I could to validate the idea and use that data to persuade some people whom I've had great working relationships with. Whether that's in school or the workplace etc… If you are unable to do that, you're going to have a really hard time recruiting good talent. You also want to know what it's like to have a disagreement with the person you're going to be in kind of a marriage with. Don't have your first fight after marriage.

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#35

Post by shrimpx »

exolymph wrote: post #16

Cofounder matching is a market for lemons, much like online dating. The best prospects are either never on the open market, or get snapped up very quickly. So it's always a problem of sorting through many low-quality options to find diamonds in the rough (and if you can find one, upgrading a rough diamond to a shiny diamond is still a nontrivial process). Point being, cofounder matching is inherently a frustrating gr…

I disagree about online dating. Increasingly, my peers who end up in long term relationships or married have found each other on dating apps. Dating only coworkers and friends gets boring and limiting.

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#36

Post by testTED »

shrimpx wrote: post #35
exolymph wrote: post #16

Cofounder matching is a market for lemons, much like online dating. The best prospects are either never on the open market, or get snapped up very quickly. So it's always a problem of sorting through many low-quality options to find diamonds in the rough (and if you can find one, upgrading a rough diamond to a shiny diamond is still a nontrivial process). Point being, cofounder matching is inherently a frustrating gr…

I disagree about online dating. Increasingly, my peers who end up in long term relationships or married have found each other on dating apps. Dating only coworkers and friends gets boring and limiting.

Read the entire comment you are responding to.

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#37

Post by [deleted] »

threeseed wrote: post #33
robust-cactus wrote: post #22

I've heard it works and it has caused companies to form and get funded. I signed up like 1 week ago and I'm a 2nd time founder. It depends on your expectations and how you configure it is my read. For me, even though I'm technical, I'm mostly looking for other technical founders. Other than that, the thing I mainly want to feel when I read a profile is a sense of "oh this person would be fun to jam on ideas with" and…

> and it has caused companies to form and get funded I am far more interested in what percentage fail because of a breakdown in the founder relationship. It's easy to start a company and get funded, when you have a great team. It's very difficult to maintain that relationship for a decade or more.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#38

Post by bmelton »

fortylove wrote: post #25
m348e912 wrote: post #3

Just do what Brian Armstrong did. It seemed to work out pretty well for him. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3754664

What was the outcome of that, did he find his cofounder from that thread?

The outcome of that was that he went on to found Coinbase.

He did not find his co-founder from that thread, but rather Reddit.

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#39

Post by shrimpx »

todd3834 wrote: post #34

The idea of co-founder matching feels like a dating app for rushing into marriage. It is definitely possible it can work out but it seems like a long shot. If I were going to start a startup today, I'd want to do as much as I could to validate the idea and use that data to persuade some people whom I've had great working relationships with. Whether that's in school or the workplace etc… If you are unable to do that,…

There's no reason to emphasize "rushing". Lots of people who meet on dating apps end up married. A high percentage don't work out. After they go on a few dates, they move on. Similar dynamic with cofounder matching.

Re: Ask HN: YC co-founder matching is bad

#40

Post by shrimpx »

testTED wrote: post #36
shrimpx wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree about online dating. Increasingly, my peers who end up in long term relationships or married have found each other on dating apps. Dating only coworkers and friends gets boring and limiting.

Read the entire comment you are responding to.

I did, and I strongly disagree that online dating is a market for lemons.
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