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Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

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Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#41

Post by nick_bristol »

soneca wrote: post #12

That is a tough question, as startup advice out there is "look between your friends". This is the same as saying "sorry if you didn't go to a top CS college to have smart developers friends. There is nothing you can do". Sam Altman in his last startup class went as far as to say that non-tech people have no business founding a tech business, quoting "software people should found software companies, media eople should…

Sam Altmans is right - but if all technical people could found a start up they wouldn't need YC. Some Technical guys don't have the Sales skills and some Sales guys (like me) don't have the technical skills.

Hourly fee is great advice, Ill check out the Hn Hiring thread too.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#42

Post by nick_bristol »

robinwarren wrote: post #13

Hi Nick, SWFounders meetup in Bristol is a good place to start http://www.meetup.com/sw-founders/ . It seems to attract a couple senior devs looking for an opportunity when I've been there. Secondly, feel free to drop me an email (freebananas at gmail). I run http://www.meetup.com/Bristol-and-area-CTO-meetup/ . If you can give me some more details I occasionally find out if someone is looking for something.

Thanks Robin, I'll sign up and pop in.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#43

Post by nick_bristol »

rajensanghvi wrote: post #5
Scribblenaut9 wrote: post #2

You should check out ycombinator's startup class. (It's free) http://startupclass.samaltman.com According to them, your better off with no cofounder than some random person you meet online. Ideally though, you should have someone you've known for many years.

As a follow up, here are the highlights of the lessons taught in that class and what to look for: https://medium.com/how-to-start-a-startup/65-quotes-from-sam...

I am all over that - I have not seen it because I have been working the past week but now I have got a day off I am going to smash through all of the lectures: expecting great things!

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#44

Post by nick_bristol »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #11

Hire somebody as a senior engineer at market rate, and if you're happy with their leadership, you can convert them to a senior position and/or upgrade them to a cofounder. But you'll want to see if they can architect your tech stack and build and lead a team first before you marry them.

I agree - finding the right people is one of the hardest parts of running a team.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#45

Post by nick_bristol »

rachelandrew wrote: post #7

Bristol has a pretty good startup scene (I've recently moved here). Have you checked out some of the local networking and support groups? There is some stuff concentrated around Engine Shed http://www.engine-shed.co.uk/ If you have finances you could always employ someone in a CTO type role rather than take on a co-founder. If I were in your position I think I would define what I actually need of this additional seni…

Thanks! - I will check out engine shed. I plan to sit down and write out a spec sometime this week

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#46

Post by nick_bristol »

decentrality wrote: post #29

If you are looking for a co-founder and not a contractor for-hire, then it is important to source one from within your closest contacts. Ideally, choose a good friend. Not only does the co-founder need to share your vision, they need to tolerate/accept/embrace you personally, and you them. You will go through tough times together. If you prefer to call the shots and carry the burden of founding, then don't get a co-f…

You are right - I founded my current business with two friends and now only one of them is left! So I know about the grind and the importance of strong relationships.

My instinct is that if I don't have that relationship with a technical co-founder before we start then I would be in a better position to hire in and mitigate the risk of getting in bed with someone prematurely.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#47

Post by nick_bristol »

fsk wrote: post #14

If you already have a semi-established business, you are looking for an employee and not a co-founder. "Looking for a technical co-founder" implies you are starting a brand new business, not looking to bring someone in to an established business.

My intention when I posted was to leave my existing business to run itself and to apply to YC W15 to found a new business.

Having reflected on the advice and the fact I don't have a technical co-founder I know and trust implicitly I am going to go down the route of hiring a competent technical advisor to PM this for me with sub-contracted work.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#48

Post by nick_bristol »

pastaking wrote: post #30

Hey nick_bristol, read your bio, I love the market you're in (security in oil & gas and maritime markets), would you be open to working with someone from Canada?

Thanks mate, I need to work with someone face to face on this one. Canada is a little cold for me!

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#49

Post by thegenius »

nick_bristol wrote: post #39
thegenius wrote: post #24

TLDR; Show you are willing to put in effort and labor aside from generating ideas/spending/raising capital Hi Nick - I can speak for myself. I am a primarily technical, sole founder of a 3+ years profitable company who had to develop the business know-how along the way. With the ability to see both sides, what I've found is the business-side components are equally as important as the technical components; that is, ne…

Thanks for your advice. I can see the rub for a technical person being asked for the moon and then left to deliver it whilst non-tech waits around for something to happen. I am trending towards employing a technical advisor to structure what needs to be done and then to bring people in to do the work. Your comment really underlines how the technical side are going to feel about the non-tech; and that is something I h…

Sure thing. It won't be as much of a problem so long as it's an employment agreement. My comments really only apply under a co-founder arrangement.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I find technical co-founders?

#50

Post by lise_s »

Hi Nick,

I would recommend taking your time to select your co-founder. I believe it is not only about finding someone that loves your idea, and that has matching technical skills.

Sharing equity with someone, even if you can provide the security of an income, is like entering a marriage. Any confusion, lack of communication, conflicts (and there will be no matter what) will impact your team (this comes from a start-up team member that witnessed poor decision-making due to a lack of cooperation between founders).

Make sure you both have a similar vision of entrepreneurship and take your time to work with the person so you can both experiment difficulties together and see if you trust your co-founder.

You can find contractors to get you started (with an open-source framework like web2py so that your CTO will easily be able to pick up the work).

I have applied this to my project, selected potential tech co-founders because I enjoyed working with them on various occasions (work, school, start-up week-ends ...) and asked for small, paid tasks that a mentor verified for me. It is supposed to be the hardest part in entrepreneurship so I wish you the best going forward on this search for your co-founder.

I know Europe has less Tech/Start-up events to attend (I live in France) but if you can I would recommend networking, meeting as many programmers as you can. There are a lot of events registered on Meetup.com in London. http://www.meetup.com/cities/gb/17/london/tech/

Good luck !

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