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

31–40 of 111 posts

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

#31

Post by adovenmuehle »

wtn wrote: post #27
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.…

A key point here is that you already knew one of the guys.

I think it's a point to consider but I think the main point is that these "business" people showed passion and had delivered on that passion by creating mockups, logos and so forth.

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

#32

Post by wisty »

int3rnaut wrote: post #11
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.

What would you consider fair and reasonable? I'm one of the people who needed to read this article, because I am not as technical as I need to be to see my idea through, but I'm also not a "business" guy--and I am coming into this endevour with little to no baggage or pre-conceived notion on how things work--I honestly thought if I ever did find someone technical (I'm paying freelancers right now) it would be a 50/50…

I'd say 50/50 if the programmer works for free (and you bring something to the table), up to 90/10 if you pay them a decent salary. If you pay a full salary, you don't need to justify your involvement too much, though that can be a problem in itself - the tech guy might not really think too much of you or the project, and just wants the paycheque.

If you were pitching to a bank or VC for funding, not a tech guy for his time, what your pitch be? Domain expertise? Your existing IP? Your UX design skills? Your sales skills? Your organization and drive? Your killer business plan? I'm assuming there's a market for the product, but you need more than that.

There's not much justification for less that 50%. The only reason for you to take less than 50% is if you won't be contributing much, and if that's the case, who would want to partner with you? Or if you get a developer who is really impressive, in which case you could offer them more.

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

#34

Post by StavrosK »

wisty wrote: post #23
retube wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It doesn't even really entitle you to an extra 10%. Depends on the capabilities of the business guy. The best idea in the world, with the best technical execution in the world, is worth precisely $0 without the capability to bring it to market: to build sales channels and drive growing revenues. This is a real skill, often over-looked by gung-ho coders with a neat idea. If you don't have the contacts and the experi…

So, you need a sales guy. I don't think I've ever met a self-described "business guy" who wasn't a student. If someone is a great salesman, they are a "sales guy". If they write ads, they are a "marketing guy". If they allocate capital, hire and fire, and lobby the CEO for more funds they are "managers". When people say "business", it means they don't know what they are able to do, but want to make money. Or that the…

What does that make the CEO?

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

#35

Post by wccrawford »

lutorm wrote: post #29
wccrawford wrote: post #4

I think you de-stress the 'having an idea' too much. Having a truly great idea -will- attract a co-founder. Well, if they hear it. It's not a magic spell. Also, being the 'idea guy' might be over-rated, but being the 'vision guy' is definitely the bee's knees. At a previous company, 1 man was the vision behind the entire product. I can't tell you how many hour-long meetings were ended in 5 minutes when he showed up a…

It's true that those people are valuable. But would you really believe that this guy was the "vision guy" if he'd just said so? The guy in your story did earn it, so it kind of affirms the OP.

Would you believe I was a programmer if I just said so?

Only if the answer didn't matter. Which is the way it should be. And just like anything else, the only way to prove is to do. It didn't take long to see that he had a clear vision of the product and its destination.

He never identified himself as the idea guy, or anything like that. He actually self-identified as a sales guy. (And he was, too.) But if all he did was bring vision to the table, he still would have been invaluable.

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

#36

Post by ChuckMcM »

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.

Fortunately, it's a wonderfully quick way of weeding out the idiots.

Make it your first question, "How much equity are you planning to give this person when you find them?"

Then you can threshold your response, one way to do that might be: = 50% take the second meeting.

You will pretty instantly weed out all of the "I'm going to change the world, won't tell you how unless you sign an NDA, and I'm being GENEROUS by offering you 10% if you do all the work." folks.

It may be rude to ask this first but your time is valuable and really it's like bidding in bridge, a shorthand to let you know if there is a game contract in there somewhere.

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

#38

Post by nhangen »

As a non-technical guy with a lot of ideas, I skipped looking for a co-founder and just hired people to make stuff. Eventually I learned enough code to be dangerous, and with a bit of a design background, I've spent a lot of time building mockups and doing front end work to fill in the gaps.

I have found that developers are much more likely to engage in conversation with me because I can speak their language. This also works great at conferences, meetups, and local events.

In the end, I decided to try and build things so awesome that I'd have developers asking to join my projects, instead of the other way around. So far, it's working well.

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

#39

Post by nhangen »

wtn wrote: post #27
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.…

A key point here is that you already knew one of the guys.

It's very easy to meet technical people. Conferences, meetup groups, hackathons, etc. Just go where they go and start hanging out.

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

#40

Post by trustfundbaby »

jgrahamc wrote: post #16

Someone email this to the Winkelvoss twins. Every time I hear about how Zuckerberg stole their 'idea' it makes me mad. He didn't steal it, he implemented it. The idea wasn't worth much, the implementation was everything.

To be fair, The Winklevoss guys were trying to get their idea built and Zuckerberg stalled them (stopped them from doing that) while he built it for himself.

I don't like the Winklevii, but I think its a bit unfair to kick them too hard.

Post reply on HN