

How did you meet your cofounder(s)? - cmorgan8506

a) How/where did you meet your cofounder(s)?
b) Has your product/service found success?
======
Tarential
I met my co-founder at the very first Ruby on Rails user group meeting I
attended. His previous partner had left him high and dry with a customer and
no product, so he was at the meeting looking for a technical co-founder. I
didn't know RoR then, but I figured it would be a perfect chance to learn.

We were both wary enough not to agree to anything long term up front. It
started with a simple quid pro quo 2 week contract after which we decided to
test the waters further by continuing to work together unofficially. After
about a month we negotiated a reverse vested stock agreement with a short
cliff (already passed) that satisfied us both.

Version one of our product (voltagecrm.com) is nearing the end of the beta
cycle and will soon be available for purchase. In the meantime we've been
bootstrapping the product using a custom theme on top of an open source CRM to
start building a customer base and stay profitable.

I think the partner I found by complete luck was better than I would have
found if I'd gone searching. His skills complement mine in every way. He is a
salesman, a people-person, who is willing to talk to clients, lawyers,
mentors, etc. He has the proper "better to spend $10 than waste 3 hours of
your time" attitude that I can't seem to manage. He goes out to ask current
and potential customers what features they need and what problems they have
with our current system. In short, he makes sure that all I have to do is
write software.

Perhaps most importantly of all, I actually like my partner. We can sit and
have lunch and talk about things besides the company without feeling
uncomfortable.

From reading about the experiences of others, I'd say I got very lucky indeed.

~~~
cmorgan8506
I have to say, I envy you.

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abdophoto
I met one of my co-founders at an Apple store many years back.

I worked at one for about 2 years and he came in looking to purchase a laptop
for college. We started talking about business, design, and many of the things
we felt Apple was doing right. I'm not sure how long we spoke, but it was
definitely a good hour. After speaking for such a long time, we ended up
exchanging emails.

Every once in a while (few months or so) we'd touch base with each other just
to see how things were going. I had been working on my own business, while he
was working for some bigger corporations like Reuters. Months and months would
go bye between conversations, but there was always this feeling that we had
about working with each other. He, being a developer, and me being an
entrepreneur, we kept talking about the idea of working together, but nothing
really came of it. We did do a little podcast that a lot of people listened to
([https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/business-and-
motivation/...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/business-and-
motivation/id477246407)).

Anyways, our personal conversations went back and forth for years – almost 5
to be exact. And then one day I approach him with this idea that I already
started. He had become a much better developer and quite frankly, through our
conversations he came off as a real hard worker. Someone who wants to make it.
He even helped me with some things for free which was really nice. That
combination of hard work and him being a developer was almost too good to be
true. We chatted on the phone a bit, and then I flew out to NYC (where he
lives) to meet up for the second time in 5 years. Things went well. We talked
a lot and he introduced me to an amazing designer who has also ended up being
the 3rd co-founder of our company.

Now here we are about 6 months later and we've been working really hard on
rebuilding an idea that we think is going to be really great. It's not out
yet, but I'll keep you guys updated when it is (within the next 6-8 weeks).

------
3pt14159
I've had two cofounders. The first I met at Waterloo, but never worked on
anything with him. Shut that startup down within a year, even though we had
funding options on the table. Personalities didn't match, and this includes my
own failings too.

Second cofounder I met at a Toronto Hacker News Night that I put together
every year and a half or so. He emailed me after my previous startup shut down
and was heartfelt about how much he knew it sucked. We ended up working
together and did a small (low 7 digits) exit in under 8 months, four of which
were just negotiating the sale.

Skill is important, but kindness is much better.

~~~
dear
$1MM+ for 4 months of work? That's amazing. May I know what sort of business
was that?

~~~
3pt14159
Machine Learning :)

------
ishbits
Mailing list.

Back in 2001 someone on a mailing list I was on was looking for a userland ESP
(IPsec) implementation to do some fuzzing or something... And I just happened
to have one that was 95% complete. Seeing demand for it, I wrapped it up and
had a user of it.

Fast forward a few months later, I lost my job in the common downsizing in
2001, he shot me an idea and then we were co-founders before ever meeting in
person.

------
dear
a) Previous coworker. Big mistake. Not everyone is discipline enough to be a
cofounder. b) No, it would likely fail if it continues down this road.

------
iaw
I'm curious to hear what people have to say here as well.

------
merinid
College

