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

Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 23 posts

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#11

Post by Cardeck1 »

@Matthew No offence but it's because of people like you, non technical people are hated.And no, i am not an idea man.

There is a damn difference between someone who throws an idea at you and walks away for a couple of months until you finish and someone who has a really a good idea yet he is totally dedicated and working side-by-side with you for the product to work, also willing to learn anything in order to help the company grow.

Why do you complain about the percentage?You want 100% or 120%?Come on!If he is not dedicated at all you don't work with him otherwise don't complain.Not to mention that you want to take the idea and walk away with it!So this is not a shitty idea then.Yet again, you want more and more %.

You need to understand that the execution of the idea is definitely important but if you don't have it, there is nothing to execute, ok?The road is idea>execution>business not execution>idea>business etc.So no (great) idea = no execution, no execution = no business.Either way, you must have an idea to start with.Besides, we don't know the real story.Maybe he asks for 50% so you don't eff him up later on and you showed us you are capable of many things.I wouldn't work with you if you ask me. You're money driven not passion driven.

There is no "Zuckerberg Dilemma".Mark stole the idea and improved it in time.

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#12

Post by ameister14 »

Personally, I'd talk openly with him about this and a real division of labor.

If he is willing to put in equity and you're willing to put in sweat equity, for instance, a 50% split can be reached. If he's not willing to put in either, drop him.

If you can, offer to buy him out for whatever you think the idea is worth. If not, go your own way.

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#13

Post by 31reasons »

aashaykumar92 wrote: post #10
mindcrime wrote: post #4

They also want half the business, despite the fact that I'm the one doing all the work, pulling the long nights of coding in. No, you aren't, not if you're planning to build a real business out of it. In addition to simply having "the idea" somebody has to talk to customers, solicit feedback, do market research, evaluate and establish pricing, develop a marketing strategy, write datasheets, whitepapers, blog entries,…

Excellent response! Just to briefly add on, in the initial building of a product, website, or whatever it is, the programmer may be doing most of the work to get that prototype or beta version built. HOWEVER, if the idea is going to be executed successfully, the person with the initial idea will most likely be doing his/her share of grunt work whether that be in researching the target market, developing an initial bu…

So the guy with idea does nothing until first MVP is built. Does his or her work really begin once MVP proved its worth ? It looks like technical guy can be 100% busy building the MVP while the guy with idea can explore other opportunities at the same time.

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#15

Post by wmf »

31reasons wrote: post #13
aashaykumar92 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excellent response! Just to briefly add on, in the initial building of a product, website, or whatever it is, the programmer may be doing most of the work to get that prototype or beta version built. HOWEVER, if the idea is going to be executed successfully, the person with the initial idea will most likely be doing his/her share of grunt work whether that be in researching the target market, developing an initial bu…

So the guy with idea does nothing until first MVP is built. Does his or her work really begin once MVP proved its worth ? It looks like technical guy can be 100% busy building the MVP while the guy with idea can explore other opportunities at the same time.

No. The idea is for the "business" guy to do his stuff before, during, and after development.

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#16

Post by ig1 »

It's perfectly legal to use someone-else's idea, but it is a bit of a jerk move take someones idea and walk off with it.

Just be upfront about it from the beginning - agree at the start of the weekend that anything (ideas or code) that is made over the weekend goes into the public domain (or alternatively everyone in the team gets a non-exclusive licence to do whatever they want with it.

Alternatively find your own ideas or find a co-founder who brings equal value to the table.

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#17

Post by 31reasons »

wmf wrote: post #15
31reasons wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the guy with idea does nothing until first MVP is built. Does his or her work really begin once MVP proved its worth ? It looks like technical guy can be 100% busy building the MVP while the guy with idea can explore other opportunities at the same time.

No. The idea is for the "business" guy to do his stuff before, during, and after development.

what sort of things business guy do before and during the development ? I would like learn more about it.

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#18

Post by wmf »

31reasons wrote: post #17
wmf wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. The idea is for the "business" guy to do his stuff before, during, and after development.

what sort of things business guy do before and during the development ? I would like learn more about it.

One example: http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2008/11/what-is-custome...

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#19

Post by mayerzahid »

johngalt wrote: post #8

'Idea guys' are common, and almost universally not worth dealing with. If idea guys provided value, why are all the job postings for developers? Why isn't Microsoft trying to H1-B idea guys from India? This is not to say all non-tech people are worthless. Look for someone with domain specific knowledge and connections. Someone who has a plan to contribute more than just an idea.

From Peter Thiels startup class http://blakemasters.com/post/22405055017/peter-thiels-cs183-... "A software engineer at Oracle with 4-6 years experiences gets a $105k salary and an $8k bonus. But a sales manager with 4-6 years experiences gets $112k and a $103k bonus. The situation is very much the same at Google, which claims to be extremely engineering driven; at a $96k base, $86k in commissions, and a $40k bonus, Google salespeople earn quite a bit more than their engineering counterparts."

A real "Business Guy" can bring tremendous value to a team & many company's pay them more because products don't sell them selves, you need to create a distribution channel.

Re: Zuckerberg Dilemma: I do the programming, but the guy w/ the idea gets 50%

#20

Post by aashaykumar92 »

31reasons wrote: post #17
wmf wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. The idea is for the "business" guy to do his stuff before, during, and after development.

what sort of things business guy do before and during the development ? I would like learn more about it.

Ok so before the development, there is obviously the idea. Ideas aren't normally just thought of out of nowhere...they usually come in the form of a solution to an existing problem. So there you have some thinking behind what a possible solution is (pre development). This person (x) then must think about what the best way to go about the solution is--is it mainly going to be done through a mobile application, website, or product? From there, x must do his/her due diligence is determining whether or not the idea has been done before and the general feasibility behind the idea. FINALLY s/he approaches a developer (y) about creating an MVP. Person y doesn't just blindly do the MVP--x must sell y on the idea and the way they will execute it. This is all pre-development.

Now let's assume y agrees. While y is building the MVP, x has to be making initial plans as to what to do with this MVP-- apply to an accelerator, go straight to investors, go to potential customers/clients to try and gain initial business, etc. Whether it is in the form of an application or a pitch, there is a lot of work and strategic thinking that has to go into these crucial initial stages. Work is being done on both ends at all times, or at least this must be the case if any combination of founders want to succeed.

X forms the business strategy, Y develops. If both do their due diligence, there is a great foundation there that is built for success.

Post reply on HN