

Ask HN: I need a co-founder Where do i start? - sammville

I am 18 years old and a student in university. I have built 3 web apps in the past and allowed them to die because of school work. I build web apps because i love coding (hobby). I recently built poplytics.com and still working on it but i don't want it to die off. I have no idea how to market it and do customer development. I have had a bad run with bloggers when trying to get them to review my service.<p>How do i get a cofounder who would focus on marketing? Advice pls..
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T-hawk
How did your previous ones "die"? Software is not mortal. Why can't your past
web apps be product material for a startup? Did you just lose interest?

You may not like this answer, but the actual hacking and coding is a very
small part of launching an independent software company. Your "marketing
cofounder" is really in for more like 90% of the work. If all you want to do
is code, well, you're in competition with millions of coders worldwide who are
willing and able to work more cheaply.

patio11, one of HN's most respected members and best contributors, makes his
living on a product that he himself characterizes as "hello world hooked up to
a random number generator." His business building was all in figuring out and
optimizing AdWords and email responders and the payment pages and logos and
colors and so on. Does that truly hold your interest to dive into?

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arctangent
Strongly agree.

Back when I was running my own consultancy I had this belief that if I made
something "cool" then it would become a hit almost (as I understand now, in
retrospect) by magic. And it was easy to just move on to something else when
the magic didn't work.

I've spent some time working in a bureaucratic organisation for nearly 3 years
now and, despite all the obvious downsides, this has been a positive
experience because I now think I have more of a "business head" to think with.
(The regular salary helps a lot too!)

Coming up with ideas for web apps is, I think, fairly easy for the the type of
person who hangs out here on HN. Not all of those ideas will be good, of
course, but one in ten might be. It's probably also very easy for you to make
the damn thing.

But the only way to ensure you give an idea its best shot is to really stick
at it and spend a lot of time and effort on the things that don't
traditionally come easily to us programmer-types: marketing, design, sales,
customer support.

Disclaimer: I make hardly a penny from stuff I've made in the past (and I've
abandoned more ideas than I care to remember) but I'd like to think that my
work experience (and the experiences shared by fellow HN members) will help me
ensure my next venture is more successful.

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sammville
I had that same idea at a point in time. I decided that i wasn't just going to
build but make sure people use it. I have people using my web app which is
encouraging but not enough for me to be happy to continue development. It
might be too early to determine that. Marketing is easy to say but really hard
and frustrating to do.

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HelgeSeetzen
Why are you studying pharmacy if you love coding?

It will be very hard to reconcile school, hobby and actual entrepreneurship
when they are all in diverging areas (and "coding" has very little to do with
entrepreneurship). My advise would be to find better alignment in your
activities. Otherwise you will end up doing all three just well enough to
fail.

For example, you could do an internship in a bioinformatics start-up. Learn
about entrepreneurship, network and still get to practice your
interests/skills - all in one shot. Not everything has to be about Web2.0...

~~~
sammville
I really love your advice. I have tried really well in aligning them to extent
where i have no time for regular activities, friends e.t.c... You got me
thinking now!

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HelgeSeetzen
I have been in your shoes: At the peak in 2007 I was a full time PhD student
(Physics, CS & EE), full time startup founder/exec (35 staff, acquired in
2007) and new father (child born on acquisition day - no kidding). Without
really strong alignment (and great colleagues in both arenas) this would have
torn me apart.

Don't set yourself up for failure from day one by shooting in all directions.
If pharmacy is your passion then try to weave it into all your activities.
Always remember, Web2.0 entrepreneurship accounts for 99% of online buzz but
less than 30% of actual investment activity. In fact, biotech is currently the
largest investment and M&A sector if memory serves from the last PWC Moneytree
report. If you like coding then by all means code, but don't feel like the
only possible entrepreneurial experience comes from hacking websites.

Disclaimer: I am not a biotech guy, nor am I saying that Web2.0 ventures
aren't a good choice. They are just not the only choice.

At the risk of breaking some kind of HN rule, I have a bit more info on how to
achieve such alignment on an old blog post: <http://bit.ly/hJmCEQ>

~~~
sammville
Thanks for the advice.

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EricR9
Maybe it's time to network. I'm about your age too and I also develop web
apps. Does your university have a marketing program? Maybe you could get
connected with some other students who are interested in marketing and your
idea.

~~~
sammville
I am a pharmacy student so it is not easy to network with other students with
the bulk of work i have to do. I would check for the marketing program. Hope
they have

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andrewstuart
[http://www.google.com/search?q=cofounder+site:news.ycombinat...](http://www.google.com/search?q=cofounder+site:news.ycombinator.com)

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sagacity
I agree; one of your best bets would be right here.

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nyellin
Not what you are asking for, but you should add some screenshots to
poplytics.com. I don't want to sign up for something before I can see what it
does.

~~~
sammville
Thanks for that. I had a tour page but pulled it because most people did not
like it. Working on a new version of poplytics which would have a new tour
page.

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moses1400
where are you located? there are meetups specifically setup to help you find a
co-founder in austin tomorrow night and in nyc next week
<http://www.centernetworks.com/co-founder-meetup-nyc-austin>

~~~
sammville
Too bad i am not in the US. I stay in the UK.

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clayturk
I would be interested in having a conversation with you about this.

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sammville
Hey DM me your email on twitter @sammville or send me a mail
sam[@]poplytics.com

