
Attention Orange County hackers..I need two co-founders - me_jobs_r_u_woz

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me_jobs_r_u_woz
Great hackers know that they can build anything; what they don't know is what
they should be building. My problem is the opposite. I know what to build
because I have customers who are clamoring for it, but I don't have the right
people to build it.

Your skills: Database guru, VB6 tinkerer (not a typo!), browser-to-hardware
connectivity hacker, RoR lover.

One co-founder can complement the other, so you don't have to have all the
skills.

My background: 10 years in ecommerce at founder/ceo level. Have developed a
working app by hiring coders, and even have paying customers, but ran out of
money and went back to investment banking. But the entrepreneural bug bites,
and bites real bad. Meanwhile, the app continues to run and generate revenue.
A month ago, I came across PG's writings and this forum, and now I am
convinced that I was doing it wrong - instead of paying unmotivated coders, I
should have brought on two hackers as my partners and co-founders.

Ideally, you should be based in Orange County CA where I am, so we can fully
develop the core system in the next few months. We will then apply to YC's
fall program, so you must be willing to move to the Bay Area.

While I am confident that YC will accept us (PG's Viaweb experience will
create tremendous leverage), there are two other routes we can take - apply
for Charles River's $100k-$250K program, or completely bootstrap this and not
seek any outside capital.

Your equity is fully negotiable. If you are a true hacker, I need you and you
need me. This Steve Jobs is seeking two Wozniaks!

Send me your background info to: me.jobs.r.u.woz at gee male dott comm.

~~~
papersmith
With VB6 your chance of finding a good hacker diminishes quite a bit. May I
inquire why do you need VB? What do you use it for?

~~~
me_jobs_r_u_woz
The user-facing part of the system is currently a VB client app. It's
horrendous, but guess what - users love it because it meshes with the rest of
their work environment, which is hardware devices connected to their PCs as
well as other VB apps. The reason I would like at least one of my co-founders
to know VB well is that when migrating this app to a web based equivalent, we
want to preserve the essence of what is working. That delicate transplant
surgery can be successful only when the team is well versed in web
technologies as well as VB.

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JMiao
Sorry, but saying you're a Jobs doesn't make you one. There's more to Steve
Jobs than being "non-technical" with "business experience." While he wasn't a
programmer, Steve Jobs is a bona fide hacker in the bigger picture.

And comparing most hackers to Woz is like trying to compare professional
basketball players with Michael Jordan.

~~~
me_jobs_r_u_woz
chill, bro...it's just a silly metaphor to grab some attention :-)

------
bootload
_'... Steve Jobs is seeking two Wozniaks ...'_

I'd say you're out by a factor of two taking into account the _'reality
distortion field'_ ~ <http://tinyurl.com/2qznlq>

~~~
me_jobs_r_u_woz
A good one :-)

------
Leonidas
I suggest that you start teaching yourself to code while you wait for a
wozniak. You need to know your program inside out and the best way is to learn
code to assist your programmer to do minor tasks.

~~~
mukund
Leonidas is 100% right. Learn by poking around, google things or read books,
thats one way you will be able to guide programmers. Sometimes it so happens
that whatever you want may not be done with the tech u r using, so its better
you also get technically sound ... think on those lines and advice/guide
people to approach things

~~~
Leonidas
Mukund explained what I was trying to say much better.

Learning the code will allow you to better understand and communicate with
your programmer. Besides, if there are minor things like registration problems
or design issues, you can do it yourself as opposed to bugging the programmer
who is handling the major programming parts. Can you imagine the 'business'
co-founder bugging the hell out of the programmer to take ONE word out of a
category title while the programmer is trying to go through hundreds of lines
to fix a major bug that is much more important than a category title?

I know everyone keeps saying "Wozniak needs a Jobs" and vice versa ...but in
'Wozniak' I bet there was a little 'Jobs' and in "Jobs" there was a little
'Wozniak'. Otherwise, there would be no way in hell they would have gotten
along and worked together successfully.

~~~
me_jobs_r_u_woz
Mukund and Leonidas, I have a reasonable understanding of programming; I
designed and helped build a significant part of the code. I did not mean to
appear as if I have no knowledge of, or desire to, learn code. But the
opportunity I am talking about is to complete the transformation of the
current app at hyper speed, so that we can fill the need right now, not in 12
months or longer. Surely, if the demand is as great as I am saying, someone
will fill the gap very soon.

~~~
mukund
hey dont take it seriously, i was just kidding on the programming part. I was
giving what worst could happen. So if you have built and designed things then
its better. We dont know what you are so we just assumed you to be like
another manager guy

~~~
me_jobs_r_u_woz
Hey, no prob.

------
blader
The problem with posts like this is that a lot of hackers here see themselves
more like an all coding, all designing Steve Jobs rather than just Wozes who
need a Steve.

~~~
randallsquared
...but not all of us. There must be a bunch of hackers here who'd rather not
deal with people, but feel forced to because, well, who else is going to?

By the way, Steve Jobs is more of a design critic and salesman than designer.
It takes different skills to do well at being a novelist vs. a book critic.

------
zkinion
You might get alot greater response with some kind of presentation/video/plan
on what you actually want to accomplish.

~~~
me_jobs_r_u_woz
You are right of course; I am somewhat hesitant to provide more details about
it here. Judging from the handful of emails I have received, this is a good
way to get the word out, and the real discussions can take place offline.

------
mukund
So YC becoming hot bed of talent search? Good for everyone :D

