
Seeking Technology Co-Founder (NYC) - colellm
I am seeking a technology co-founder for a web startup in the wedding or niche travel space. Ideally this person would be located in or near New York City.<p>I will be upfront. I am not a programmer but I do have what I consider to be strong ideas and have done extensive research on my ideas/web startups. I know what you are thinking. Business person who overestimates their value to company. No. I will divide equity equally with the right person and am not only looking for someone to develop the site but for a true business partner. Additionally, I would like to, if possible, apply to ycombinator for the summer.<p>If you are interested in discussing my ideas further, feel free to email me (address below). Also, I am interested in hearing about people's experiences working on teams where one person was a technologist and the other person was not or advice regarding my search for a technology co-founder.<p>Thanks.<p>melissa_colella@hotmail.com
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edw519
"I am not a programmer" - "I will divide equity equally"

Aren't these 2 statements a little inconsistent?

"I do have what I consider to be strong ideas"

Don't we all?

I have a feeling that you need to get used to the idea that a web startup is
all about building the product (at least at this stage).

2 non-programmers = bad

1 non-programmer + 1 hacker = better

2 hackers = best

I really don't mean to pick and I certainly don't want to rain on your parade.
Just a quick reality check from a seasoned hacker.

I hope your idea is fantastic and you find the perfect match. Good luck!

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colellm
I knew I would probably get attacked on this post in some way. I am not naive
and I do realize my limitations. Additionally, in a business you are looking
ideally for individuals who complement yourself in skills (i.e. one business
person, one technology person).

What is wrong with 1 non-programmer + 1 hacker sharing equity equally? I
realize product development is paramount. I do not expect to be twiddling my
thumbs while my partner hacks away. As a user of the internet and sites like
the one I would like to build, I have many ideas concrete ideas about
features/functionality I would like on the site and would hope to function as
a team in developing the product.

Beyond that, down the road much of the focus would be on user acquisition
strategies (for a user generated content site such as the one I would like to
do). I cannot imagine I would not be able to contribute equally to the overall
process of building a sustainable company.

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edw519
I did not mean to attack, sorry if you took it that way. Just trying to give
you honest feedback.

"What is wrong with 1 non-programmer + 1 hacker sharing equity equally?"

Nothing if you can find someone to do it. Great deal for you.

No one is accusing you of "twiddling my thumbs". Your mere presence here
suggests otherwise.

I'm only suggesting that in the earliest stages, 90% (or more) of the work
that has to be done is hacking, pure and simple. This would be like me opening
a hair salon and splitting equity with someone who knows how to cut hair.
Sure, there's lots of other stuff to do, but the main thing that needs to get
done is hair cutting.

Maybe with advanced tools, outsourcing, and some quick learning, you can prove
me wrong. I sense from your posts you're the kind of person you can.

Again, I hope you find your match and find great success. Keep us posted. (And
someday, come back and let me know how wrong I was.)

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colellm
Thanks :) Didn't mean to sound defensive. I posted expecting responses similar
to yours. Initially I was naive but a little networking in the tech community
solved that pretty quickly.

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mhidalgo
Don't let anyone tell you can't do it, where there is a will there is way. I
do have to say that if you don't find someone if you are serious about this
you should build a prototype yourself. I think even if doesn't become the
actual site , the experience you will learn will be invaluable. Also if I was
a person who you were recruiting it would impress me that you cared that much
to learn. Plus you ability to communicate with a technical co-founder will be
that much better. I also think don't underestimate the power of prototype to
get you funding.

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dkokelley
Although not having a programmer on your team as a founder will hurt your
chances if you're applying to YC, if your idea is sound and you are flexible
you could always hire someone (even contract someone or outsource it) to build
your idea, just make sure that person is pretty invested in making a good
product, not just "doing a job". In addition to regular pay, you should still
offer a good amount of equity (non-controlling) in the company that he's
building for.

Put another way: A good way to find a programmer who could turn into a
business partner is to start on your own and hire contractors. Eventually
you'll find one who really gets along well with you and has a similar vision
as you do. At this point (and after you've experienced "working" with him) you
could bring him on as a partner and viola, you've got a programming co-
founder.

~~~
colellm
Yeah. I would not apply to ycombinator without a programming co-founder (I am
going to apply to launchboxdigital though).

Definately have considered "hiring" someone, but I wanted to exhaust trying to
find a co-founder first.

------
alaskamiller
<http://www.projectwedding.com/>

a YC related company

~~~
colellm
Yup. Know Y combinator funded them. Actually, brings up another point. Curious
what people think about applying to ycombinator if they have funded a
potential competitor of your company in the past??

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ALee
PG answered this in a post that I cannot find, but they don't share info
between companies and they generally don't fund companies that do EXACTLY what
someone else before did (e.g. Weebly again).

Applying is okay though.

~~~
pg
I don't think I said we wouldn't fund a co that did exactly the same thing as
a previous one. The real answer is that we rarely (never, so far) get two
companies doing exactly the same thing. They may be in the same general
business, but they tend to each have their own approach to it, and any good
market has room for multiple companies approaching it from different
directions.

E.g. Snipshot and Splashup. Both are web-based imaged editors, but the
similarity ends there. Snipshot is an easy editor for end users. Splashup is
Photoshop.

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lowfat
I think 1 business geek + 1 hacker has better chance of success than 2
business hacker. Paypal was founded on a similar model. However, what often
happens is one partner tends to underestimate the hacker - either the business
geek finds the hacker useless or vice versa. I guess some level of
understanding and respect is an important element in any partnership.

~~~
NSX2
Underestimating "the other's value" is a sign of immaturity and lack of
experience. The more I learn about life, the more I appreciate everyone around
me more. I'm sure lots of people underestimate civil engineers, car designers,
pilots, surgeons, micro-biologists, etc. because life is complex and we have
no idea how challenging people's contributions are and how they affect us.
Having said that, IMHO it's usually hackers who underestimate everyone else's
contributions ... until they get to the point where nobody's signing up for
their "thing" or they have people sign up, but nobody's willing to pay them
for it. THEN the value of business models, marketing expertise, sales
techniques, etc. come into perspective, when they realize all the tweaking in
the world doesn't necessarily translate into the handing over of the cash from
paying customers.

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aquateen
I'm just curious how you came about this site? This doesn't seem the most
general entrepreneurial site out there.

sidenote: seems googling "news yc" no longer asks if I meant "news NYC"

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Flemlord
Anybody else read that as "wedding" or "niche space travel"? Talk about an
unfocused startup...

~~~
NSX2
You do realize that people have weddings in exotic locations, which = travel
... and then right AFTER the wedding they go on these things called
"Honeymoons" which involve travel, right? So then, yeh, weddings and niche
travel would tend to complement each other perfectly for a business like this.

~~~
NSX2
Right. Downgrade my post. I made a perfectly valid, succint point, insulted
nobody, pointed to a flaw in the logic, supported the original logic, and just
because you disagree and can't defend your own logic you click off a point.
Feel powerful, do you? You showed me!

