

Find a co-founder with this new MeetUp - alain94040
http://www.meetup.com/Co-Founders-Wanted-Meetup/

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jlm382
I'm always skeptical of these gatherings that pair up potential co-founders,
because I see it as trying to match up singles at a bar. The quality of the
people tends to be lower, and the relationships very rarely turn into
marriage.

And when you're working on a startup, your co-founder is very much your
spouse, both personally and legally. The thought of going to a cafe to look
for my future spouse feels rather grim.

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alain94040
Bars don't ask for resumes when you come in.

Trust the organizers of the MeetUp to try to come up with a [slightly] better
process...

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mmt
But not a better venue, sadly.

Snarkiness aside, constructive criticism:

Somewhere accessible by train _and_ car would be ideal. Downtown PA has, at
best, mediocre freeway access and parking.

Somewhere quieter than a bar or pool hall might be more conducive to
conversation.

As much as I'm ashamed to admit it, the "trendy" impression I have of Blue
Chalk is a personal turn-off. Besides, I'd want my potential co-founder to be
frugal enough to avoid such an establishment pre-funding.

Perhaps something like the Hacker Dojo?

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alain94040
Good point. We'll probably change the venue to something very quiet, once we
find a better host. I asked Sun. Hacker Dojo is a good idea too, but we'd need
to find a host (otherwise it's $100/month to be a member?).

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veemjeem
Hacker Dojo is probably ideal. I hate having "real" discussions at Blue Chalk.
It's decently quiet around 1pm, but it gets pretty loud around 5pm and later.
So unless you guys hold it at a decently quiet venue, i probably won't bother
attending.

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alain94040
I just created this MeetUp based on my experience with
<http://FairSoftware.net> and the Founder Institute: everyone who has a great
idea also needs great co-founders.

But finding co-founders is tough. Doing it in person is a good way to go,
hence this MeetUp.

Feel free to pass around to everyone who's interested.

Also, a discussion on how you met your co-founders would be great.

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replicatorblog
It would be awesome if YC set up a cofounder "matching" service. Not anything
they would have to manage, just a way to share what you bring as a cofounder,
what you are looking for in a cofounder, and ideas you might have. It seems
like a lot of these meetups end up being filled with "Social Media Experts"
"Consultants" and "Idea Guys". A filter could ensure that hackers, designers,
and other people who can contribute at an early stage could meet up.

I submitted some ideas to HN as a post a month back and met a lot of awesome
people. Some way to help make connections (without having to resubmit
ideas/info) would be great. Might also be a way to strengthen the applicant
pool for YC too.

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rms
The problem is that YC doesn't think that is a good way to find a cofounder.
Founder disputes are a top way for companies to die and are more likely the
less well you know your cofounder. Maybe a cofounder from the internet is
better than no one, but the best cofounder is someone you've known for years
and trust.

~~~
replicatorblog
I know YC is all about long term relationships between cofounders. I'm
thinking something that would help start that relationship. People could find
others with shared goals and similar interests and over time form
partnerships. would be a long term project, but could pay off.

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rrikhy
Brilliant. I've always liked Jobnob's "find people to help with your startup
for free" events, where the participants can preview the companies and see
which ones they would like to work for as well. I think it would also
facilitate things if we had some kind of public wiki with which to display
companies and/or individual's backgrounds.

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catch23
Here's a better venue: <http://superhappydevhouse.org/SuperHappyDevHouse35>

I've met my current and previous startup founders at these series of events.
However, I've never gone there with the intention of finding a co-founder.

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jlees
Interesting idea, Silicon Valley is probably the only place where the ratio of
business guys to coders might be slightly better than 90:10.

Are you going to do the TechMeetup style 2-sentence intro round the room?
Organising hack-together sessions may also be worthwhile...

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davidw
Find a co-founder ... for a startup in 5 years' time. Because someone you just
met is not likely to be marriage or co-founder material until you take the
time to get to know them. At least judging by what I've read here.

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alain94040
True. I believe in references. If a friend of a friend can vouch for you, then
we should get to know each other.

The amazing thing is that in Silicon Valley, it's not 6 degrees of separation,
it's more like 2. You and I probably have a friend in common! It helps to
establish a co-founder relationship.

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jmtame
I typically plug www.hndir.com when I see this stuff (a directory of hacker
news readers sorted by school). This will instantly tell you just about
everything you'd find out from a 30-60 minute conversation in person. "What
projects did you work on? What type of stuff interests you? Which languages do
you prefer?" etc etc.

If you're outside the United States and you e-mail me your school's TLD, I'll
manually add it. There are message boards and easy ways of identifying YC alum
within. Notifications are a bit lacking at the moment.

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alain94040
Sounds like a good idea, but your registration process is messed up. At least
I'm not smart enough to figure it out :-)

I'm getting an "email required" when I click on "create account".

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jmtame
there are two sections: login and register. make sure you type your school
e-mail into the last box on the page. sorry if this part is confusing, may
change this soon.

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zackattack
your registration process sucks. i've seen so many complaints about it,
including ones from me. i don't even know if my university email is still
active. adding complexity doesn't add legitimacy.

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EinhornIsFinkle
Are there 2-23 interesting entrepenurial people who want to grab a beer @ my
modest office in SF financial district/northbeach to shoot the shit and talk
ideas next Thursday or Friday afternoon, 4-6 PM? I have a couple cold cases
that need drinking.

Drop me a line w/your preferred date and a bit about you and I'll get it
together if there is interest - BeerInRandomOffice@gmail.com

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steveeq1
I have something somewhat similar for people in LA:
<http://www.meetup.com/hacker-codejam/>

It's more of a mixer/pair programming thing to test other people to see if
they're compatible with you.

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dannyr
I like Hackathon events better because you get an opportunity to work with
other devs.

Google Campout and Startup Weekend are good hackathon events.

On a related note, who's going to DataCampSF next weekend?

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tpinto
did these people read the latest essay from PG?
(<http://www.paulgraham.com/really.html>)

you'll want your co-founder to be someone you know from some time before
trying to found anything with him/her. you'll be a couple (or a threesome,
or...) and a serious, long-lasting relationship can't be built on a blind
date.

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gcheong
That's correct, but you're putting yourself in a place with other like-minded
people and by meeting them in person in that context it gives you an
opportunity to get an initial feel for someone to see if you want to continue
the relationship further - maybe lunch to share ideas or working on a small
project together - pretty soon you're building a real relationship. These
meetings would be a starting point not an end point.

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grayhacker
Excellent idea - now if someone could just do it in Austin...

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gcheong
You could do it in Austin.

