I've already had my fill of "idea guys". Somehow, almost every one seems to think that merely coming up with a cool idea while drunk one night automatically entitles them to 50% of the profits (after YOU build and ship it).
A successful startup requires all aspects of a business:
- leadership
- sales
- marketing
- market research
- competitor research
- product research
- product development
- product shipping & deployment
- contacts in key areas related to your business
- strategic planning
- financial management
- employee management
- investor management
- lots and lots and lots and lots of paperwork
- and of course a million other little things you discover along the way
Some of this can be learned as you go, but the most likely startups to succeed have a large portion of these areas covered by the founders, at least in the book learning sense.
So whenever I'm approached by an idea guy, my questions usually go like this:
- "Great idea. So who else is doing it?" (red flag for "nobody")
- "Who is going to buy this?" (red flag for "everybody")
- "How do you know that [group x] is going to buy it?" (I'm looking for something better than a hunch)
- "How much starting capital do you have?" (got to at least have ramen money)
- "Who have you spoken to about funding?" (red flag for "nobody", unless they are bootstrapping with their own money and have enough for 6 months of runway and a plan for after that)
- "Are you going to do this full time?" (If not, this conversation is over)
- "What skills are you bringing to the table?" (Must have at least half of the list above, or have other interested co-founders who fill many of the gaps)
So if you're looking for a technical co-founder, make sure you're bringing a business to the table, not just an idea.
A successful startup requires all aspects of a business:
- leadership
- sales
- marketing
- market research
- competitor research
- product research
- product development
- product shipping & deployment
- contacts in key areas related to your business
- strategic planning
- financial management
- employee management
- investor management
- lots and lots and lots and lots of paperwork
- and of course a million other little things you discover along the way
Some of this can be learned as you go, but the most likely startups to succeed have a large portion of these areas covered by the founders, at least in the book learning sense.
So whenever I'm approached by an idea guy, my questions usually go like this:
- "Great idea. So who else is doing it?" (red flag for "nobody")
- "Who is going to buy this?" (red flag for "everybody")
- "How do you know that [group x] is going to buy it?" (I'm looking for something better than a hunch)
- "How much starting capital do you have?" (got to at least have ramen money)
- "Who have you spoken to about funding?" (red flag for "nobody", unless they are bootstrapping with their own money and have enough for 6 months of runway and a plan for after that)
- "Are you going to do this full time?" (If not, this conversation is over)
- "What skills are you bringing to the table?" (Must have at least half of the list above, or have other interested co-founders who fill many of the gaps)
So if you're looking for a technical co-founder, make sure you're bringing a business to the table, not just an idea.