

Ask HN: Help me find a co-founder - resdirector

Paul Graham lists a few ways to find a co-founder: http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.paulgraham.com&#x2F;startupfaq.html.<p>I&#x27;m testing a new way of finding a co-founder.<p>Here&#x27;s a list of my likes and dislikes: http:&#x2F;&#x2F;willwegetalong.site44.com&#x2F; (embarrassingly messy at this stage)<p>My hypothesis is this: two people who work well together have somewhat similar passions and peeves[1]. In the link above, I’ve not only included my likes and dislikes, but also <i>how much</i> I like or dislike each.  +1 is roughly equivalent to one &quot;Facebook Like”. +2 equivalent to two “Facebook likes” and so on. Yes, ill defined and arbitrary.<p>Have a look down my list of likes and dislikes, and if you think you know someone who shares the same passions and peeves, intro us. I will decide on a reward in conjunction with said new co-founder.<p>[1] Necessary but not sufficient.
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resdirector
Clickables:

[http://www.paulgraham.com/startupfaq.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/startupfaq.html)
[http://willwegetalong.site44.com/](http://willwegetalong.site44.com/)

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pwim
My criteria for a cofounder would be someone who has complimentary skills, and
that I think has a good chance of being a successful entrepreneur.

Sharing interests might be a nice secondary thing, but I would start with the
kind of person you're looking for first.

~~~
resdirector
All three are necessary. But finding someone you fundamentally click with is
the harder of the three, IMO. Followed by the entrepreneur spirit, followed by
the skill set.

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resdirector
As I mentioned in another comment, the broader (and bold) hypothesis here is
that our passions and peeves play the strongest role in determining success of
close working relationships.

If anyone here thinks this is an interesting hypothesis worth chasing AND/OR
thinks they'll get along well with me
([http://willwegetalong.site44.com/](http://willwegetalong.site44.com/)), I
would absolutely love to chat to you.

Or if you simply know of someone who would be interested in investigating this
hypothesis.

EDIT: big thankyou to all the comments here. Much good feedback that will go
into v0.2

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corobo
I think we'd enjoy watching some TV together for sure, but I don't know if
you're the techy guy or the sales guy from this

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resdirector
Tech guy.

Yeah, good point, I'll consider adding more entrepreneur-centric info on.

(Out of interest, which TV shows? Or was just figure of speech?)

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chrisBob
My guess is that he was commenting on the fact that all of your interests are
TV shows. I would have listed things like hiking, photography, boating,
gardening... for myself.

You listed 25 things, and the biggest stretch from the TV theme was a pair of
directors. I think that says more than any of the specific shows you
liked/disliked.

~~~
resdirector
Good points.

FWIW one reason I went for a (very) strong TV angle is that it's a trade off
between being too broad and too niche. As an example, I could have put down
"The Chocolate Watchband" (awesome band from the 60s), but it'd be a long time
before I found another person who shared that passion.

Also, of those whom I've worked very well with in the past have shared some
very strong, similar interests in visual media (TV, movies), and much less so,
sports, hobbies, or even books. A big "however", mind you: this is just an
observation and/or hypothesis.

 _tl;dr_ TV ticked both the boxes of being non-niche and a strong
discriminator.

Unfortunately I've come across as a TV obsessed junkie! :)

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atroyn
The idea has some merit - founders work very closely together so it's a good
idea to share interests.

However, almost all of your interests are to do with watching television (or
consuming media of one kind or other). That would be a 'nope' moment for me on
a date, and I suppose in evaluating a co-founder as well.

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mknappen
Most of us can work really well with people of different ages, interests,
family structures, backgrounds, political persuasions, religious ideas, and
popular media choices. Different approaches to responsibility and how to treat
others will kill a partnership; Different TV tastes, not so much.

~~~
resdirector
_Different approaches to responsibility and how to treat others will kill a
partnership; Different TV tastes, not so much._

Perhaps I listed way too much TV. The broader (and bold) hypothesis here is
that our passions and peeves play the strongest role in determining success of
close working relationships.

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officialjunk
Isn't what skills each person has to offer important in cofounder match
making?

~~~
resdirector
True, but I'm approaching it from a new angle, interests first, skills second.

I think this way is better, because even if there isn't a skill match, we'll
still likely have an interesting conversation (presuming we bond over one or
more of our passions or peeves). And I'll probably keep you in my
Rolodex...who knows, maybe sometime later we'll have complimentary skill sets.

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akg_67
Sorry, we are not a good fit. Good luck with your search. /s

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canterburry
How are you and your co-founder planning on getting anything done while
watching this much TV?

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resdirector
I don't watch that much TV, it just seems that way because I neglected to
mention other interests.

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hashtag
Holy cow are we incompatible

~~~
resdirector
Haha, it's working ;)

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clairity
why so much tv?

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resdirector
TV, I think, is a good discriminator. I could list "Objective C", "Node.js"
etc, but sharing similar tech passions aren't as accurate at predicting
compatibility.

I could well be completely wrong. I aim to find out.

~~~
clairity
it just made me wonder if tv might be a distraction.

but i also think this quiz only gives you half the equation - you'd have
evidence you could be friends but it doesn't tell you whether you could be co-
workers (requires similar motivations/work ethic & complementary skills).

although i like seinfeld, i'm squarely on the friends end of the seinfeld-
friends continuum, so i guess that wouldn't bode well for a partnership. =)

~~~
resdirector
_i 'm squarely on the friends end of the seinfeld-friends continuum, so i
guess that wouldn't bode well for a partnership. =)_

Don't get me started on Friends! That would rate five thumbs down for me ;P.

Re your larger point of the quiz only giving half (or a third) of the story,
true, but I have a bold hypothesis that people who share strong passions and
peeves often have similar motivations.

In other words, I hypothesize that our interests tell us more about who we are
than we think. (That said, I perhaps listed too much TV!)

