

A crossroads in life... - FrankCFrank

I am at a crossroads in life and need some advice... Let me start off by saying I am a designer, not a developer. I bootstrapped a company (got incorporated as an S corp) and I am the sole founder who was responsible for the front-end and hired a developer to the back-end and a DBA to maintain the servers. The company has a solid business model and solves a problem within a niche community. The developer worked remotely and got the v1 alpha 80% done when he was having problems with certain tasks so he found another developer in the UK to help out. The 1st developer then started having personal issues and and bailed on the project. The 2nd developer stepped up and finished the v1 alpha (we cut corners to get something launched). We quietly launched to prove the concept and to work on content then work on the business side. We have about 700 users from just word of mouth to help test and get feedback. The new developer wanted to re-do the entire system in a new framework and make it more efficient the the original developer had it and I agreed. Along the way, we made it better and added new features. The new developer was about 90% done, but unfortunately has had major health issues and cannot continue. So, I am stuck with a 90% v2 system and cannot afford to hire another developer right now. I am 36, no family to tend to and very passionate about making the company a success. I live in central Florida so the tech scene is lacking. Nothing is keeping me here and I am trying to decide if I should pack up and make the move the move to Silicon Valley where I have a better chance at finding a co-founder/developer/chief technical officer and give the company a real chance. If I stay put, it could take too long to find the right person and my dreams could vanish. If I move, I would be moving across the country where I don't know anyone but it would not take long for me network. I would like to hear what others think...
======
jhancock
Depends on your wallet size: Silicon Valley is not cheap. If your product does
not involve rocket science and your that close to having a viable product you
should be able to find a developer either close by or "anywhere in the world"
that can help. I'm just a few hours north of you. I'm not a dev for hire but
have plenty of sympathy for your situation and tons of experience
bootstrapping. Finding a co-founder is not something you do by moving cross
country and randomly bumping into people.

------
FrankCFrank
Thanks for your comment..

"Finding a co-founder is not something you do by moving cross country and
randomly bumping into people."

True - but it would get me near like-minded people where there are a lot of
meetups for entrepreneurs and more resources.

~~~
ScottWhigham
There are lots of meetups for entrepreneurs in other places as well though. SV
is going to have a more elite set of folks than other places. "More elite"
means "I want/deserve a bigger piece of your company". You have 90% - in your
estimation - completed already. I doubt you'll find a developer in SV who will
commit to working with you for less than 20% of your company given the
circumstances (that's just my guess though - could be way less depending on
other factors not shared with us). Do you really want to give up a big chunk
of your company to "only" finish that 10%?

My point is that other cities have very talented developers and great
communities as well and you might be able to get what you need at a cheaper
price. Atlanta, for example, is starting to do well - Georgia Tech has a nice
culture, for example.

