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Finding a Cofounder

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Finding a Cofounder

#21

Post by webwright »

edw519 wrote: post #15
webwright wrote: post #7

Earlier 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…

Heh-- I'm not saying that people who don't find co-founders are wrong/stupid/bad.

I am saying that people who don't WANT to find co-founders are generally (IMO) misguided and should reconsider.

FWIW, me and my 38 year old co-founder found our 30 year old co-founder 6 months back. I know how hard it is and how scary it is (we all set aside really lucrative jobs). I agree with you about the marriage analogy.

But, sticking with that analogy-- having bad spouses in your past is a pretty lousy reason to swear off of dating. ;-)

Re: Finding a Cofounder

#22

Post by bayareaguy »

This is just an idea (I've never done this myself) but perhaps you could create a new company with a more even equity distribution between the founders and then exclusively license what you currently have to it with an option to purchase outright for some amount. If the company fails you'll still have what you originally brought to the table.

Re: Finding a Cofounder

#24

Post by tx »

What makes you think you NEED to stay in control and "provide vision"? I started alone and within a month realized that I was going crazy. Then I teamed up with my long-time dev. partner and he not only provided some initial funding, but introduced us to a few very interesting people, then we got a 3rd guy who's like Linux God, who I keep learning new things from every day, now we're about to add a kick-ass marketing muscle - the dude keeps impressing us with his ideas and suggestions.

Right now, at this moment, if I pretend I am dead for a day, I still know the gears will keep rolling and the engine will keep accelerating. This is an enormously helpful feeling: stop being greedy and give your company a chance to survive.

That's my 2c.

Re: Finding a Cofounder

#25

Post by iamelgringo »

webwright wrote: post #6

I 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…

Giving a person 50% of a company that's vested over 4-5 years is much different than giving a person 50% of a company the day the come in.

If you come up with a decent vesting schedule, I think that you can probably avoid a lot of the pitfalls that you've described: What if he screws it up?

If he screws it up, fire him, and let him walk with the 3-5% he's earned in the 3-6 months that he's been working on the product.

Re: Finding a Cofounder

#26

Post by lanceusa »

tx wrote: post #24

What makes you think you NEED to stay in control and "provide vision"? I started alone and within a month realized that I was going crazy. Then I teamed up with my long-time dev. partner and he not only provided some initial funding, but introduced us to a few very interesting people, then we got a 3rd guy who's like Linux God, who I keep learning new things from every day , now we're about to add a kick-ass marketin…

Well the original idea came from me...so at this point the original concept has been on my own. And unlike you I didn't feel overloaded after one month. Actually at this point things are progressing very smoothly and to be honest I actually don't need the help. I know what I want it to be, I've created that, and thus far my testers have really loved it. So yes, I feel that I don't want to veer to much from that. If I had a new guy try to change all that and now say, great work...now let me drive...that would be bothersome to me. What I really need is someone to task out to...and if during that time I get some good ideas I want to have the final say.

Let me put it to you in these terms. Unlike you I did spend 6 months alone working an additional 4-5 hour/days on top of 8 at work day job, and about 8 more on the weekend. So lets say thats 30hrs/week * 50/hr (just an estimate...I actually charge over $80 at my day job)...but just for argument sake I've invested in time and effort 6mo * 4wks * 30hrs/wk * $50/hr = $36,000. So just in time alone that how much I've invested. Now why would I want to just give that away to someone who sat on the sideline and waited until it was a good enough idea to just jump in when the product is almost complete?

Re: Finding a Cofounder

#27

Post by vlad »

bayareaguy wrote: post #23
redorb wrote: post #11

(PG) said get a co-founder,and yes he is The Authority.

Something about the way that's phrased makes me wonder if pg could play the Donald Trump role in a justin.tv/YC reality show along the lines of "The Apprentice".

I had a similar understanding of what YCombinator could be like last spring, with the same TV show format and YCombinator company involvement as you've thought.
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