

Ask HN: Interested in news?  Network bureau chief just described a service he wants... - brandnewlow

I recently had lunch with a bureau chief at a major network who wanted to pick my brain about "what's new in online news." We had a great conversation and at one point he described a specific problem he's dealing with and the sort of solution he'd be interested in.<p>I made a fairly crude but functional demo using open source stuff (took about a day) to show the guy and he liked what he saw.  I showed it to some independent publishers and prominent bloggers here in Chicago and they caught me off guard by immediately asking what it would cost to subscribe.<p>I'd like to move forward with this, but not by myself.  Though I meet PG's "animal" criteria, I'm a designer/frontend guy whose background is in journalism (hence my connections).<p>I think the way forward would be to get 1-2 more cofounders with technical backgrounds and to dedicate a few months to seeing what we can put together, perhaps apply for funding,  figure out a pricing model and start selling subscriptions.  If it's got legs, great! If not, OK, we gave it a try.<p>Anyone interested in talking about this?  Anyone know any devs who might be interested?  I've read all the previous posts where people ask for co-founders and get ridiculed for "doing it wrong."  I'm looking for honest to goodness co-founders who'd get an appropriate share of the credit and equity.  I've found a bit of an opportunity but am unable to exploit it by myself.
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mixmax
I love your very candid and honest way of explaining where you are and what
you need.

Good luck with finding partners - hope you succeed.

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brandnewlow
Thanks. Yeah, I don't know what else to do other than to lay out the situation
and see what people make of it. I'm currently working away on another news-
related start-up by myself...and the "by myself" part is proving just as
troublesome as everyone says. An opportunity of some kind is there, I'd like
to find a few people who want to take a crack at it with me.

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presty
why not just throw the idea out to the public instead of going through an
email sharing process?

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luminousbit
This sounds really intriguing to me and I would love to get involved. Would
you mind contacting me to talk more? My e-mail is drew -DOT- blas [AT] gmail

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brandnewlow
just wrote you.

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noodle
i'd be potentially interested in talking/helping.

most people get ridiculed when asking for co-founders because the tone of
their requests are "hi, this is my startup and i need a developer to flesh it
out for me". an actual co-founder is not simply a code money sitting down and
banging out someone else's idea.

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brandnewlow
Just wrote you. Thanks.

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maxklein
How about $1600 a month + 5% for 6 months instead? Sounds like that would be a
better deal for both parties.

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brandnewlow
max. If that's the way forward, then I'm open to an arrangement like that. My
first concern with that though, is that it sounds like an employee, not a co-
founder. I've been working on a project as a solo founder for about 5 months
now, and not having anyone else to turn to when I'm out of gas is just brutal.
My worry would be that an arrangment like this would create a hired gun
mentality. I'm not looking for an employee to supervise. I'm looking for
someone with skills that compliment my own to lean on as we explore an
opportunity.

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maxklein
The problem you are facing is that if you find anyone, this person is not
motivated by a burning passion for your idea, whatever it is, but for
financial gain. You are partnering with someone who is motivated by money, but
who does not have any ideas of his own. In my opinion, this is an inherently
risky co-founder. What if a better opportunity comes along? What happens when
times get tough?

You can only found a company with someone who either completely believes in
the idea and who will stick with the idea when times get tough, or someone who
is secure and will do the work, and hopes for a payout in the end, but for
whom the payout is not important.

The middle-road - cofounding with someone who just cares about the financial
aspect of it, is a very risky thing. You'll lose the person quickly.

In any case, you have an idea, and you have a concept. When you co-found with
someone, who makes the final decision? What happens when there is a
disagreement and the other guy decides to fork your project?

It's not that easy to co-found.

~~~
brandnewlow
This is very helpful, useful stuff. As I said, I'm open to discussing
arrangements like this, whatever will make the most sense. Ideally I'd find
someone who's also passionate about the project and not just potential payout,
of course, but we'll see where things lead. Let me know if you're interested.

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andr
So what is the idea?

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brandnewlow
Ah. If you're interested, I'd be happy to explain via e-mail.

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tocomment
I'm intrigued. Could you email me? Email in profile.

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brandnewlow
I see a URL only. Is there an e-mail on the page it leads to?

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brandnewlow
Please send inquiries directly to me. My e-mail is in my profile. Thanks for
all your interest. It sounds like it might even be possible to pull a few
minds together to bash this out pretty quickly and see if it'll fly or not.

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plaggypig
I'd certainly like to hear more about it - can you contact me? Email address
is in my profile.

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brandnewlow
I don't see it in there.

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plaggypig
Sorry, I must have removed it - it's there now.

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brandnewlow
e-mail = sent!

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gnikides
As a former journalist I'd like to hear more. Please email me (profile).

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brandnewlow
it's not in your profile.

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gnikides
Apologies. gnikides (-at-) yahoo DOT com

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nir
Curious to hear about it - email in profile. Cheers

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brandnewlow
Don't see an e-mail there or on your blog. Feedvolley looks interesting!

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nir
Thanks, and sorry for the confusion - niryariv at gmail.com

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rodrigo
Im interested, losdosplebitos -at- gmail , thanks.

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vikram
I'm curious. Could you email me? Email in profile.

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brandnewlow
E-mailed you.

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steveplace
I'd like to hear about it. Email is in my profile.

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haidut
I am interested as well. My email is haidut (-at-) gmail DOT com

thx

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brandnewlow
just wrote you. Thanks.

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veritas
Curious, as always. My email is in my profile :)

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brandnewlow
done.

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btw0
Please email me, address in profile.

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brandnewlow
done.

