

Ideas wanted on how to find a qualified co-founder? - jdileo

I am an east coast entreprenuer who has recently shut down a non-tech company I founded and plan to move to silicon valley to start my next company, this time in the internet space.<p>I am moving to the valley with considerable savings to found a start-up.  I have a great idea, bootstrapping success and operational experience BUT....no hacking experience.<p>With no tech sphere of influence I'm looking for proven ideas to meet brilliant technologist co-founder(s).<p>Any thoughts?
======
owkaye
Since you have the money why don't you just hire someone to do the programming
work for you? Then you'll own 100% of the business, you'll be giving an
unemployed programmer a job, and you'll never have to deal with the issues
that come up between co-founders when they see things differently.

Personally I think the only reason for a co-founder is if you don't have the
money to hire someone to do the work you cannot or will not do yourself. Or if
you're such a lazy person or so unfocused that you cannot just get the work
done yourself without someone else pushing you all the time ... although if
this description applies to you then I would suggest that you're not cut-out
to be anything other than an employee anyways.

I've been self-employed for almost three decades and I have never missed
having a co-founder for anything I've ever done. But I'm highly self-motivated
and seldom second-guess my decisions, and with so many years in business I
have more than my share of experience doing all kinds of different work --
including programming. So maybe this is why I never missed having a co-
founder.

I guess if you want to get funding from Y you'll need a co-founder since PG
apparently doesn't fund companies without one -- not many of them anyways. But
since you said you don't need the money I cannot for the life of me figure out
why you would even want a co-founder ...

Do you really think it's an intelligent move to give away a huge chunk of your
future business simply to find a competent programmer???

Regardless of your answer, I think you should hire a programmer instead of
trying to partner with one (unless you really don't have as much money as you
suggest) ... and there are lots of places to find programmers other than the
Bay Area.

I also think you're going to have to get over your fear of someone stealing
your idea, and start explaining it in more detail, before you'll find the
person or people who will do the programming that makes it a reality. I'm
willing to bet that you're not even the first to think of your idea. You might
even be surprised when you explain it to learn that other people here already
know of similar services, either currently in existence or in the process of
being developed.

~~~
jdileo
I appreciate you taking the time to write this well thought out response
owkaye. My interest in a co-founder stems from me having no experience in
hacking or tech, felt it best to bring in someone with vested interest. Wasn't
thinking 50/50, probably more like 80/20 because I'll be funding. You make
some good points I am going to think about heavily.

Regarding YC, I believe they offer a ton of value beyond the
money...especially for someone on the outside like me. The mindsharing,
networking to other YC founders and hopefully, eventually, VC's when the beta
iterates successfully are worth giving them a vig.

~~~
owkaye
"Regarding YC, I believe they offer a ton of value beyond the money."

I'm sure they do, but finding a co-founder who is a programmer just to get
into their program seems rather ass-backwards if you ask me. I would much
rather own 100% of my company, hire a programmer to do that work, and use my
time to make my own contacts.

If you think you have to move to the Valley to make these contacts there's
nothing wrong with moving. People always brag about it being a common everyday
occurrence to meet and chat with VC's there anyways. I don't know how true
this is, but that's only because I've never been there to experience the
environment firsthand.

And I'm not belittling the value of YC in any way, I'm just reminding you that
there are other ways of doing things than the ways you've conceived. Whether
or not they work for you is up to you to decide.

I have a very independent outlook on life and business, so even if this might
work well for me it doesn't mean it would work for you or others. I would
actually love to partner with the right people in a new venture, but I won't
take the time to seek them out because of two reasons:

1- I know I can be successful on my own without them, and if I take time out I
will have to sacrifice the progress I'm already making in order to find them,
and ...

2- Given the unreliable nature of the task of finding a reliable 'partner' I
feel it makes more sense for me to just stick to what I've already started,
and just keep working on it myself.

If the right partner comes along for me that's great, but I won't lose any
sleep over it if I have to do everything myself. I get a lot of support from
my wife anyways, and it's probably better support than I might get from
another kind of 'partner'. This may be another reason why I do not agree with
some online claims that having a co-founder is so important to the success of
a new business.

On the other hand, I was launching new ventures years before I met my wife,
and going back to "doing it all myself" simply doesn't phase me in the least.
I am not one of those folks who need someone else around to keep my energy and
focus, that's all. For better or worse that's just the way I am.

------
jpwagner
I'd say you're looking up the right avenue, but it may be hard for people on
this forum to help you out if you do not have more details about what you're
trying to do.

Why are you moving to the Bay Area? What's the market segment? What,
technically, are you trying to do? ...

~~~
jdileo
Moving to Bay Area because I believe Paul Graham & Marc Andreesen are correct
when they say that serious tech. players should locate to the tech capital.
(see their posts on the subject so I don't have to re-type :)

Website idea leverages consumer buyers-impulse in way not done to date. Need
hacker(s) that have technical ability to build top-notch retail site....I know
this is vague, and non-inspirational, but I don't want to give away full
concept for obvious reasons.

------
kanny96
It is always tough to find a co-founder. I am also looking for one, my
expertise being in voice and natural language technology. I guess it has to do
with establishing the trust and that is best done in physical proximity over a
few meetings or like love, it can just happen. I am from India, but willing to
partner with really motivated people in US. You can contact me on this id at
aol.com

------
DanielBMarkham
Hi jdileo, I'm an east coast hacker who has lived in very rural areas and has
not had the opportunity to hook up with reasonably-financed partners because
of the location of where I live.

I'm looking to move to the Valley for my next startup, however, and my
expertise is not only on hacking internet applications together its also on
growing small teams into large organizations. My day job is advising large
organizations how to run their teams like startups. I've written several web
applications as startups in the past but never seemed to make it past the
first stage. I've also consulted with a few startups and know their pains.

I also like bunnies and puppies and long walks in the park.

(grin)

Good luck to you, my friend. I've been actively seeking a cofounder for about
a year. I'm not sure what the magic formula is. Perhaps it might be best to
get out there, set up shop, and do some networking for a month or two.

As to hiring and percentage ownership and such, put your checkbook away. If
you're serious about a startup, go 50-50 with whomever you hook up with.
Startups are inherently risky. You need another brain that's in this struggle
with you 100%, not some schmuck looking for a paycheck. Don't get me wrong --
there are great employees out there. But what you need is technical _vision_ ,
not just technical execution. You don't know what you don't know. And
employees aren't going to fix that.

Having said all of that, you come at this in a severe disadvantage -- you've
already had a successful business. That means you're not as hungry as the
average person. The next startup I'm in, I have to make it work or go back to
consulting. You can always hang out for another year and see how things go. At
some point, your "runway" can be too long. I really believe you can have too
much money for this sort of thing. I'd also think about a three-person team
just to balance it out and prevent deadlocks. I can't overemphasize how
critical people selection are to team performance. It's critical enough in any
kind of business endeavor, but in startups? Having the right folks that mix
the right way is gold -- literally.

Hope that helps you. Glad to continue a conversation if you'd like. Just drop
me an email.

------
jdileo
FYI-Co Founder does not need capital to invest....I have that covered.
Stanford Grad. Students, where are you??

~~~
jpwagner
Are you sure when you say "Co Founder" you don't mean "employee"??? Maybe post
to "jobs."

