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

Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

humbledmba.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 111 posts

Re: Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

#101

Post by mgkimsal »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #28
dmitri1981 wrote: post #2

One thing that irritates the hell out of me every time is meeting a 'business' guy with the world's best idea, who is prepared to let a lucky developer have 10% of the venture in return for building the damn thing. I am yet to meet a developer who has not had this very same experience.

During 2002 (post-bust) I got approached 5 times with the sweet deal of developing a product for Nothing, and no specifics at all for equity down the road. Got to be a joke with my technical friends - How many are you up to today?

I used to call those "dot com dreamers".

Re: Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

#102

Post by nupark2 »

priv_acy wrote: post #87
cletus wrote: post #5

Good post. Speaking as a technical guy, my default position is to be turned off by co-founding with a business guy unless they have an amazing track record. I like the advice of earning a technical co-founder. I just wish more business guys realized their ideas aren't that special, aren't a magic way of printing money and just coming up with the idea doesn't entitle you to 75% of a two-man venture. It doesn't even re…

You could flip it and it would be just as true (that is, not at all): Speaking as a business guy, my default position is to be turned off by co-founding with a technical guy unless they have an amazing track record. I like the advice of earning a business co-founder. I just wish more technical guys realized their code isn't that special, isn't a magic way of printing money and just coming up with the implementation d…

If your technical cofounder isn't the most important part of getting your startup off the ground, then your idea is probably not technically novel/interesting, an maybe you should hire it out to an external team.

The difference in results across two developers can be incredibly pronounced; sometimes, those egos are very much earned.

Personally, I started a company without a business guy and no external funding. It was incredibly difficult to do without external capital, but we own it, and we're not beholden to external interests. We've hit a million a year in revenue, and are poised to completely eclipse that. I've had to step up to effectively serve as CEO and CTO, but without the code, there'd be nothing to sell.

I'm not claiming that 'business' doesn't matter, but rather, that compared to the people that imagine and then create the things you're going to sell, the usual business guy -- minus any other specific skills in the field in which he's working -- is a commodity.

Re: Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

#103

Post by rmc »

mattmanser wrote: post #59
thwarted wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If business guys want to earn their chops, there are a bajillion open source products out there that a solid consulting or VAR business could be built of off. Learning how to, for example, configure file servers with samba for small businesses, or set up blogging platforms, are a good way to get some technical chops too, and is most likely going to take less time to get good at than becoming a kickass programmer. And…

That's called consulting, generally not really seen as a startup. I don't really get your point? You seem to be telling people without technical skills to go get into non-scalable business models?

I don't really get your point?

It allows a 'Business Guy' to prove that they have what it takes to grow and manage a technical business.

Re: Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

#104

Post by dowork77 »

As much as I'd like to agree with this post, I can't. I had an idea and learnt programming to implement atleast a prototype. Done. I can't go to local meetups because we don't have any (small country in europe). I posted on HN (during the "best time") with the title that I'm a business guy with a prototype. I received two upvotes, one comment and got one email. Now I did expect a little more earnings here, what did I do wrong?

Re: Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

#105

Post by gmansoor »

Finding a cofounder is like finding a marriage partner. You spent time and get to know each other before committing long term. Doing a trial projects may be one thing but its not just a matter of few days or meetings.

I second with "Spent some money" advise. Business people should also prove that they have a skin in the game by some way. Obviously it varies depending upon what else you are brining on table, and what has been done before. Money factor may not be as critical if the business person has already have mockups, market research, and many things that could have been done before or in parallel. You just have to show that you are not just looking for coder and then see if it works without spending any of your own energy.

Overall, I like the post, but title is bit confusing or contradictory to what Jason talked in the post. How to earn a co-founder would probably be a betters title.

Re: Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

#108

Post by joshwa »

jaysonelliot wrote: post #91
joshwa wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the industry we call the "Product Managers".

Are you saying a UX professional is just a product manager?

I'm saying that almost all the tasks you describe above also fall under the responsibilities of a good Product Manager (at least on small teams, which is what we're talking about here).

If your "Idea Guy" comes from a Product Management background (and can do all the things you mention above, plus "Strategy"), then you should be in good shape.

Re: Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

#109

Post by tomkarlo »

There are really three roles in a startup: funding, selling, and building. They're all important. If a business co-founder doesn't have funding, he/she has to prove they're good at selling. Unfortunately, a lot of business co-founders with ideas haven't actually spent much time selling, and they don't have much money either, because if they did, they'd be looking for a technical _employee_, not a "technical co-founder."

Re: Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.

#110

Post by rhizome »

luke_osu wrote: post #12

Last week I was approached by 2 business type guys looking for a technical partner to start a business. One of these guys I already knew from years back. Immediately I got the impression that these guys were very passionate and very serious about their idea. It helps that their idea was a good one. What really impressed me is they had already done a lot of the leg work. They picked out a name and had a logo designed.…

It really illustrates a divide in understanding. Some people think being a business guy is all about having an elevator pitch when it's really about having a well-developed spec. Otherwise, you're looking for a technical cofounder who is also a product guy, which is very expensive indeed. Product development is the grass-roots of business, the "steak" from which "sizzle" is sold.
Post reply on HN