

Ask HN: Finding a Co-Founder while in High School? - Jarred

I have a lot of ideas I want to work on, a couple in particular and I realize I can't do them alone, or rather, I can but it won't be (and isn't) fun.<p>Where are some good places to find a Co-Founder? (I live in the East Bay)<p>I don't know of many programmers in my school. I know one person who has a sort of entrepreneurial side of himself but I don't need the entrepreneurial sense (he also doesn't do much), I need someone with a greater or equal knowledge of programming and (more importantly) a drive to actually use that knowledge. I know a few people in startups and plenty of people who work in some part of Silicon Valley, but most of those people are considerably older than me (40+) and/or not someone who I would want to work with.<p>You might be wondering how being in high school is related to finding a co-founder, or if not a co-founder someone to work on a particular project with, and it's because based on what I've read/heard, people find co-founders in college/university. I don't have that advantage of being grouped with people of similar interest.
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code
> but I don't need the entrepreneurial sense

Horrible statement. You want your cofounder to be very entrepreneurial
regardless of whether he's the business cofounder or the technical cofounder.
Otherwise what you're really looking for is a coding monkey disguised as a
cofounder to avoid having to pay because you don't have the means to.

> I need someone with a greater or equal knowledge of programming and (more
> importantly) a drive to actually use that knowledge.

Having a drive is important. Either you or your cofounder needs to be good
enough on the technical side. But it sounds like you're discrediting someone
who knows his business and marketing chops. Its definitely hard to find
someone that knows it in high school but I would be careful about disregarding
this in favor of technical talent if you are already a developer. A lot of
startups fail not because they aren't able to build their product, it's
because they're unable to get it out to the market.

> I know a few people in startups and plenty of people who work in some part
> of Silicon Valley, but most of those people are considerably older than me
> (40+) and/or not someone who I would want to work with.

Age shouldn't be a determining factor albeit I can see where you're coming
from. However there are plenty of people in their 20s in the valley and the
startup scene.

> You might be wondering how being in high school is related to finding a co-
> founder, or if not a co-founder someone to work on a particular project
> with, and it's because based on what I've read/heard, people find co-
> founders in college/university. I don't have that advantage of being grouped
> with people of similar interest.

No, we're not wondering that. College just is the norm. You need to get a
better idea of what you actually need in a cofounder rather than just what you
assume you need. And you can find ways to network and meet people of similar
interest, even in the East Bay.

Hope that helps.

~~~
Jarred
"> but I don't need the entrepreneurial sense Horrible statement. You want
your cofounder to be very entrepreneurial regardless of whether he's the
business cofounder or the technical cofounder. Otherwise what you're really
looking for is a coding monkey disguised as a cofounder to avoid having to pay
because you don't have the means to."

I meant that I don't need the business sense as much as I need the technology
sense.

"> I need someone with a greater or equal knowledge of programming and (more
importantly) a drive to actually use that knowledge. Having a drive is
important. Either you or your cofounder needs to be good enough on the
technical side. But it sounds like you're discrediting someone who knows his
business and marketing chops. Its definitely hard to find someone that knows
it in high school but I would be careful about disregarding this in favor of
technical talent if you are already a developer. A lot of startups fail not
because they aren't able to build their product, it's because they're unable
to get it out to the market."

My primary reason for not getting anything I'm working on out to market is
because I'm thinking a lot more about the idea than actually spending time
coding it. I start coding and soon after I realize a better way to approach
it, and then I start working on that better way and the process repeats
itself. I think this process will fix itself if I were to have a co-founder.
In addition, having a specifically technical co-founder would speed up
development time tremendously.

"> I know a few people in startups and plenty of people who work in some part
of Silicon Valley, but most of those people are considerably older than me
(40+) and/or not someone who I would want to work with. Age shouldn't be a
determining factor albeit I can see where you're coming from. However there
are plenty of people in their 20s in the valley and the startup scene."

Age isn't a determining factor. It's the individual's personality, and more
importantly, whether I think I can work with them and if they think they can
work with me. I haven't come across people wherein both of those conditions
were met.

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ChuckMcM
One of challenges of doing this in high school is that the student body is
like unenriched uranium, pretty much everyone has to go to school and so the
mix is broad. One of the things that colleges do is that they typically have
the kind of student in mind who will be successful there, and they have depth
in various programs, so they create a selected population out of the total
possible population, thus creating a more highly enriched entrepreneurial ore.

As you don't get the benefit of that selection process by the high school
(unless perhaps its a private school that lots of people have been competing
to get into) you're best bet are places where such self selection _is_ done.
For business folks there is DECA, for engineering folks there is FIRST, for
musical folks band, for future CS and math majors there is chess club :-). But
all those share the property that they are a self selecting group, if there is
a club or extra curricular activity you find interesting, and its voluntary,
chances are better you will find like minded individuals participating in that
activity.

So depending on your Co-founder needs check various clubs in the space that
meet in the Bay area.

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akkartik
Congrats, you're starting early. I wish I'd known to do so when I was younger.

I've been struggling with this problem for several years without success, but
I've made some progress, met several great friends. So I have a few things
worth trying that I've been meaning to write up, but haven't gotten around to
it yet.

Feel free to ping me to discuss offline. (Email in profile.)

