(PG) said get a co-founder,and yes he is The Authority.
Finding a Cofounder
11–20 of 27 posts
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#12Another thing to consider:
We've been about 70% complete for version 1 roughly half a dozen times now. We were 70% complete in April of last year, which we actually did release (it's getting users now, but not many). We were 70% complete in October, when we sent along a demo with our YC app. But we realized that it wouldn't work for the general case, so we went back to the drawing board. We were 70% complete in November, when I realized we were rewriting things too much with each additional feature and stepped back for a week to actually design the thing. We were 70% (well, more like 50% by my reckoning) complete in December, when we switched web frameworks. We're about 70% complete now, though if this is anything like past 70%s, it's probably more like 40%. Now I don't trust any estimate that's not backed up by Trac tickets.
Always remember the 90-90 rule: "The first 90% of the work takes 90% of the time. The remaining 10% takes the other 90%."
Many startups have to go through multiple rewrites before they have something useful - Reddit's on their 3rd (though they launched with their first), I heard Xobni had to redo their first try to be more ambitious, YouTube completely revamped the site to make it stickier, my last day job went through about 4 rewrites before we launched the product (which is the 7th product it's launched...none of them really got product-market fit), the job before that changed directions 4 times in the year I was there and completely rewrote things about a half-dozen times, never actually releasing anything.
I'd look at the stuff you do now as exploratory programming; your job is to find out more about the area, so that it eventually gets to the point where it "clicks" and you can just crank out code that works. You're still very early in the product process; a cofounder could add a lot of value down the road.
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#13You definitely have to agree upfront on what stake/salary your employee would get. And when you say "this is my vision and things should be done my way" it makes me think you're looking for more of an employee than a cofounder. Which is fine, by the way, just be aware that that isn't a very cofounder-like mentality.
You're still very early stage, so the first person you brought on would probably need a significant chunk of equity, unless you're paying a nice salary.
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#14I am in the exact same boat, so I don't have many answers, just more questions. I think I'm 60% complete, but who's to say? I have coded everything just the way I want, what if the next person has better ideas? What about equity? I've put too much into this to keep less than 50%. I would love some help, but I don't want to compromise anything. Actually, you're ahead of me. You have someone in mind. Every potential co…
It would be pretty strange for you to give a cofounder more than 50% equity.
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty good two cents. I have a feeling that's what will happen. I often remember the words of Felix Dennis who says he'll do just about anything to succeed---except give up equity. That advice runs counter to much of the thinking here. Then again, Dennis is a billionaire. His book, How to Get Rich, is one of my favorites. (How could you not love, "Money did not make me happy. But it definitely improved my sex life."…
I think that's LOUSY 2 cents. Take the top 200 sites (by traffic) and show many how many have a single founder. The number to optimize is your chance of getting ANY payday- not your percentage of ownership. Would you trade 50% of your company to increase your chance of success from 2.1% to 4.2%? I have no idea what those numbers are (but I suspect that a co-founder more than doubles your shot at success)... But if yo…
You can add:
4) The guy is cautious because he has been burnt before. Every cofounder he has had has in previous ventures has either: failed to fully commit, failed to perform, reneged on their agreement, suffered personal tragedy, or died.
Just because someone doesn't have a co-founder doesn't mean that it must be 1, 2, or 3. Personally, I'm tired of hearing #1 - I've always thought it was without logic.
And don't forget - it's a lot easier to find co-founders when you're still in school with like minded people with time on their hands. Things get a lot tougher when your peers (if you can find any) have families and mortgages. Not being able to miss a paycheck is a tough hurdle to overcome.
Finding a co-founder is more like getting married than dating. I'd much rather be alone than be with the wrong person. I'll either find the right person or launch alone. In the meantime, I keep working.
If you have a good team, consider yourself very fortunate! You've already completed a hurdle that others struggle with through no fault of their own. So they keep on working and reaching out to groups like this. OP is looking for suggestions, not a diagnosis of what's wrong with him from a stranger.
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#16I would suggest letting go of the idea that you've created much value. One way to look at it is this: If he came on TOMORROW and both of you busted ass for 12 months, how much of the value at the end of that 12 months would have been built before he came on? How about in 4 years (your standard vesting plan)? The thing to key on is VESTING. Make damn sure that he gets ownership in a trickle (starting after a few month…
This is excellent advice. Funny it comes from the same person I disagreed with above. Oh well.
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's LOUSY 2 cents. Take the top 200 sites (by traffic) and show many how many have a single founder. The number to optimize is your chance of getting ANY payday- not your percentage of ownership. Would you trade 50% of your company to increase your chance of success from 2.1% to 4.2%? I have no idea what those numbers are (but I suspect that a co-founder more than doubles your shot at success)... But if yo…
You can add: 4) The guy is cautious because he has been burnt before. Every cofounder he has had has in previous ventures has either: failed to fully commit, failed to perform, reneged on their agreement, suffered personal tragedy, or died. Just because someone doesn't have a co-founder doesn't mean that it must be 1, 2, or 3. Personally, I'm tired of hearing #1 - I've always thought it was without logic. And don't f…
You said it much more elegantly than I could. To add to reasons why it's hard to find a co-founder, it's harder to find a hacker co-founder when you've just started on the path to hackerdom, as is my case.
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#18Sept 2007 isn't very long ago. It seems this person you know would be interested in adding features and you should let him. Even if you don't like them all you can make them optional. It just doesn't seem like you have a lot to loose and only stand to gain a great deal in this. His work will "make the pie bigger" so to speak, raise your valuation in the end.
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can add: 4) The guy is cautious because he has been burnt before. Every cofounder he has had has in previous ventures has either: failed to fully commit, failed to perform, reneged on their agreement, suffered personal tragedy, or died. Just because someone doesn't have a co-founder doesn't mean that it must be 1, 2, or 3. Personally, I'm tired of hearing #1 - I've always thought it was without logic. And don't f…
You said it much more elegantly than I could. To add to reasons why it's hard to find a co-founder, it's harder to find a hacker co-founder when you've just started on the path to hackerdom, as is my case.
Yes, I didn't even get that far. This may be the biggest hurdle. Of all the hackers I've ever met, I wouldn't even approach 99%. I've seen their work.
I know 2 rock stars who are local and I've worked with before that I would love to be with now. One is laid up after a horrible motorcycle accident and the other is going through a nasty divorce. Lunch and phone calls, yes. Co-founders, no.
Interestingly enough, I'm corresponding off-line with several people from this board. Who knows, maybe that will lead somewhere.
Willie Sutton robbed banks because "that's where the money is". Do you think if he was a lonely hacker, he'd be here now?
Re: Finding a Cofounder
#20Another thing to consider: We've been about 70% complete for version 1 roughly half a dozen times now. We were 70% complete in April of last year, which we actually did release (it's getting users now, but not many). We were 70% complete in October, when we sent along a demo with our YC app. But we realized that it wouldn't work for the general case, so we went back to the drawing board. We were 70% complete in Novem…
Points well taken...and as I see you are talking from experience...exactly what I was looking for to put my mind at ease. We are planning to meet in a few weeks...if all goes well I'll have a new member on the team that seems as enthusiastic as I am about the project.
I like what you said exploratory programming because with a new cofounder I can sit down and say, "look this is what I've found will work, this needs help, this needs someone to just start outright, and do you have any ideas how the hell to make this work." Thanks for replying...I'm glad you did.