I don't get why all these MBAs are so set on starting a website business when they refuse to learn about websites. This is like MBAs wanting to start a restaurant and trying to find a chef. The whole idea is a little pointless. You might find one, but really your role is to ENABLE a good chef/coder and help them succeed. It's stupid to come up with a restaurant name and theme and then go find a chef - you can do that, but you're likely going to fail since you don't know anything. Instead, find a great chef/coder, find what they want to do, help them develop and package their idea and then do all the shit work that they don't want to deal with (get money, buy stuff, hire people, do powerpoint). THAT'S your role.
Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
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Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#12Can will kill the headline "you're doing it wrong"? I think that it comes off as pompous as if your way is better. Maybe these headlines are just used to get clicks? I don't know; regardless, they are a bit of turn off.
Agreed. The author of the article has no idea of what I'm doing so leaping to the conclusion I'm wrong (and so is everybody else who reads his article) comes across as arrogant and clueless.
Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#13The author is doing it wrong. Although the illustration is presumably inspired by the Pythagorean theorem, one robot thinks about the formula "a2..." rather than "a²..." and the other about an equilateral rather than right-angled triangle. Perhaps a technical co-author could help?
Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#14There have been a lot of these "help me find a technical co-founder" posts. All the ones I've seen have missed the fundamental point: without technology, your idea is worthless. Your technical co-founder is supposed to be doing all the work, sacrificing a quantifiable high-paying job. You're networking and "being authentic". And your contribution to an uncertain venture is "[if] needed, bring cash".
Agreed. I would add that a potential bizdev cofounder needs to be able to prove they're good at all that stuff, not just say they can do a great job at it. Lots of people who have never done bizdev before tell themselves "I can write blog posts and reach out to journalists and potential customers. It's just communications and people skills." Sure, you probably can do those things, but can you do them well, and I mean…
I think mental laziness on the part of the prospective "business" partner has a lot to do with it (speaking from that side of the equation). I've held off actively searching for a tech co-founder until I've run with the idea as far as humanly possible: customer validation, half-assed web mockups, etc. Sure, your results may not be as robust as if you had built a v1.0 product and put it out there for iterative development, but since that isn't an option, stop whining and get creative!
Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#15The author is doing it wrong. Although the illustration is presumably inspired by the Pythagorean theorem, one robot thinks about the formula "a 2 ..." rather than "a²..." and the other about an equilateral rather than right-angled triangle. Perhaps a technical co-author could help?
That's an interesting point. The image needs a shift in perspective. Even as superscripts the robots wouldn't be thinking the same thing, but they're in a space of seeking love. Perhaps a bit of flexibility will lead to a positive outcome.
Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#16I don't get why all these MBAs are so set on starting a website business when they refuse to learn about websites. This is like MBAs wanting to start a restaurant and trying to find a chef. The whole idea is a little pointless. You might find one, but really your role is to ENABLE a good chef/coder and help them succeed. It's stupid to come up with a restaurant name and theme and then go find a chef - you can do that…
This is a great analogy, and the situation is a lot more clear when phrased this way. Do you mind if I borrow this? I have this "technical cofounder" conversation far more often than I should
Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#17I don't get why all these MBAs are so set on starting a website business when they refuse to learn about websites. This is like MBAs wanting to start a restaurant and trying to find a chef. The whole idea is a little pointless. You might find one, but really your role is to ENABLE a good chef/coder and help them succeed. It's stupid to come up with a restaurant name and theme and then go find a chef - you can do that…
I agree with you to a degree. I was a biz side guy when I first launched a start-up 2 years ago. What helped me find a tech co-founder was running the project as far as I could without one. Revenue, seed round, incubator, etc.
Something that I don't think biz side guys understand is that the idea isn't unique or special, and it will likely fail, as mine did. However, both sides need each other...and as I've read a hundred times on HN - there isn't a lot of love floating around for the business side / MBAs.
I don't find tech guys to be very open minded when approached with ideas. On the flip side, I think biz guys need to come to the table with A LOT more than an idea.
I recently got an email from a guy thinking about posting on HN looking for a Tech Co-Founder. In his speech, he said there "is a huge and underserved market waiting for their product." I asked him - why does your site only have 7 twitter followers, and no facebook page? That is a very commonplace conversation.
My solution for business side guys is full proof. Don't post on hacker news. Don't ask random nerds. Quit your job. Learn to code. Screw the snobby tech co-founders...be your own tech co-founder. Startups aren't something that you do on the side...it's your life.
Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#18Yeah - don't do it at all, thats my advice. I learned to write some Rails about a year ago, best decision of my life. Yeah, I get its me, but I can't imagine doing it any other way. When you start your business it will need endless tweaks and changes, and there is nothing, I repeat nothing, like the ability to be able to hack them out yourself whenever you want.
You are correct. I started, and still am learning Ruby. My normal "business stuff" can now be slightly automated, I can build simple things (blogs, "toys", etc.), and its fun to make things. Technical people also love to help you learn.
Moreover, when it came time for my technical friends to bring on a "business guy," who do you think they went to -- some random guy from a meetup, or the guy they traded code lessons for all-purpose biz advice and is busting his tail to learn the tech.
Ironically, I'm so busy now that I don't get to sit down and work on the fun projects and puzzles like I used to, but that was the original goal, right?
Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#19There have been a lot of these "help me find a technical co-founder" posts. All the ones I've seen have missed the fundamental point: without technology, your idea is worthless. Your technical co-founder is supposed to be doing all the work, sacrificing a quantifiable high-paying job. You're networking and "being authentic". And your contribution to an uncertain venture is "[if] needed, bring cash".
The main value of a business co-founder is taking care of everything else and bring traction: customers, investors, press... Check slide 9 of http://blog.foundrs.com/2012/02/29/co-founder-issues-slides-...
Re: Finding a technical co-founder: You're doing it wrong.
#20There have been a lot of these "help me find a technical co-founder" posts. All the ones I've seen have missed the fundamental point: without technology, your idea is worthless. Your technical co-founder is supposed to be doing all the work, sacrificing a quantifiable high-paying job. You're networking and "being authentic". And your contribution to an uncertain venture is "[if] needed, bring cash".
As someone who has been searching on/off for a business cofounder I don't think you're giving enough credit to what a bizdev cofounder can do. I need someone to blog about the product/industry, to start cold calling customers and set up meetings, to write copy, to work on the demo video, to set up ad campaigns, to form the corporation, to help with the UX, etc. Writing the code has taken up about 40% of my time. The…
I'm unavailable right now, but when you get an offer for the biz gig, bring them in on a contract basis, and give them a few clear and painful, yet essential, deliverables (meeting with 3 clients, line up a distributor, etc).
That's what my current cofounder did to me. Balked at first, but then I realized that it's not going to get magically easier after the trial. It was the right amount of realistic pressure -- just make sure that it's realistic.