Ask HN: What's 'Due Diligence' when vetting co-founders?

I don't have a credit card, but in the next 90 days, I expect to have access to enough funds to buy server #1. I'll get on a way to sell it in advance.

I had an idea to market a special where I would sell an annual deal on the server for 25-33% off which wouldn't make much money for that year, but would provide enough capital up front to buy another server & expand right off the bat, so I wanted the website to feature that special.

I also wanted the website to feature a permission marketing campaign & collect email addresses of interested parties to go onto a waiting list since our initial server capacity is limited, but I guess I can achieve the same thing with a facebook page with people 'Liking' us & adding our announcements to their news feeds. I saw an interesting social commerce app that allowed for one-click facebook purchasing, that would make the storefront part easy & free of up-front capital.

Thanks again for your reply.

Certainly better than just jumping in. I think launching a tiny project with someone (something that just takes a few days) is probably a good way to test the waters.

I took a look at your profile and website and have some thoughts.

First is that your idea is a very specific and specialized. Your co-founder will likely need to spend lots of time just to fully understand the problem and the business case behind it. Then if they are actually interested in tackling that problem and believe a business can be built, it is difficult, requiring lots of time and specialized technical knowledge. Lots of people want to find companies based around classic consumer web application type offerings. Not saying you won't find someone but just saying that it will be difficult. You may be better off going to conferences to network with the right crowd so to speak to find a founder.

Second is that you are based in Syracuse. Personally at the co-founding stage I would want to be able to meet face to face and work with someone in person. I think a lot of people are the same way. The CoFounders Lab site does all of its search based on proximity (not sure about the others). So I think lots of people don't even see your profile, and even if they do they say I don't want to work with someone in Syracuse. Not knocking Syracuse - I really like it personally - but you need to be in one of the startup hubs in my opinion. It also will be helpful in getting other talent and getting connected in the VC world.

Yes, but that was only the starting point of years of vetting. 9 years and 3 kids later, I'd say it worked well.

I haven't put anything on the web because I don't have a web dev. I certainly would like to have something up on the web, but I can't afford to at this stage of the game. I can barely afford the server #1 I need to get off the ground renting. I don't know if that means I need access to more capital but I like to think I can do this without more than $5k.

If I had a web developer onboard with me, I envision there being a permission marketing campaign collecting email addresses of interested parties & delivering relevant content to them in anticipated doses to keep them interested. Being that we only have so many servers to rent & are just starting I would like to see a waiting list implemented, too.

I can do some stuff in plain text on the website, but I think its better off not drawing customers to it while it looks that way because they'll think it looks unprofessional.