

Berkeley Grad Seeking Stanford Cofounder - chulls

 "Get a cofounder" is perhaps the most ubiquitous and undisputed piece of advice we aspiring entrepreneurs receive when reading startup self-help books, talking to investors, or trolling blogs.<p>It was advice I should have taken.   I outsourced our company's beta development to India, and I quickly learned the hard way that contractors are very different than partners.   I didn't know how hellish outsourcing could get.  <p>I need someone to work with me to pull the all nighters, write code (which I can't do), and be there for some moral support.<p><pre><code> It's not that I didn't want a cofounder; it was just that this mysterious person was hard to find.  I'm sure part of the reason it was tough to find a cofounder is that our product isn't very glamorous (we use emerging web technology to help schools and families prepare for and stay connected during disasters), but it was also hard because I went to Berkeley.  
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The top grads from Cal don't want to start companies, they want prestigious jobs.  Business majors like me go become investment bankers or consultants at Goldman Sachs or Bain.  The CS guys all work for Microsoft or Google.  Why don't Cal grads take risks?  Why can't we learn from the success of our rivals across the bay?<p>Anyway, I want to jump ship.  Is there a hacker from Stanford who wants to be my cofounder?  I'll even wear red at the big game.<p>Yes, this post was obviously somewhat sarcastic, but I really do need help.  I have a cofounder already, but he brought money to the table, not coding skills, and a hacker is what we need.  My company, LReady , is about a year old, revenue generating (through non-web operations) and is completing its beta software.<p>If you are a Flash/Flex/ActionScript god (or just a fast learner), we want you to build the messaging backend to do this:  www.lready.com/schools using tools like this: developer.ribbitphone.com.  We have some money, so we can give you a small salary, and if things work out, you can stick around as part of the founding team.  We are located just north of San Francisco, but will be moving closer to the valley shortly.<p>Email me at chris@lready.com if this is interesting.   I actually don't care so much where you went to school Xeven Berkeley, my alma mater, is fine.

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jsjenkins168
Stanford degree does not necessarily a good hacker make.

Re-word your request as you will turn off good hackers if you restrict based
on the place they went to school. Most elite hacking skills are acquired
outside of a classroom anyway.

Interesting about your experiences outsourcing to India. I've met a few
startup founders locally who have done that. I'd never thought about it
before, but I guess it could be beneficial to those who need certain tasks
completed and are strapped for resources/time. We have too much pride in
writing our code but I'm sure for some it works.

You should try posting on craigslist too. You might find a software developer
that way.

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chulls
I realize that - I was being sarcastic. If someone is a great coder but didn't
finish the sixth grade, I'd love to talk with them. But in all honesty, there
is definitely an entrepreneurial mindset present at Stanford that is lacking
at many other top schools. I wish more of my friends at Berkeley wanted to
take the plunge to go at it on their own. Big names and comfortable salaries
entice too many recent grads -it almost happened to me.

Craigslist also hasn't been the best for me. It's not that there aren't good
people, its just that you get inundated with literally hundreds of replies.
It's tough to sort through the riff raff.

I've had better luck getting help through entrepeneurship groups like SVASE,
because at least the people there truly want to be a part of something rather
than earn a few bucks as contract labor. Again, I realize there are good
people on Craigslist, but I've learned the hardway that one bad hiring
decision while your product is in development can grind you to a halt. It's
all about boosting the mean and decreasing the standard deviation of your
applicants; picking out a diamond in the rough is hard.

