
Ask HN: Where to meet non-technical cofounders? - aumakua
I spent most of my undergraduate degree (in applied math&#x2F;physics) with my head down powering through courses and working a job in the evenings to pay for my education. Over that time, I met a bunch of talented people, many of whom I keep in touch with, but none of whom I could ever see myself working with. Moreover, they&#x27;re also all engineers as well with skillsets that more or less resemble my own.<p>I&#x27;m at a FAANG company at the moment and I&#x27;m finding it quite unfulfilling (nothing new here), and for the last several months I&#x27;ve been hacking away on my own projects just to keep honing my skills and to try to figure out what&#x27;s possible in terms of turning technical know-how into commercial products.<p>The last one I built felt like a relatively solid idea but I quickly realized (a) how much of the difficulty in launching the product depended on having a good network and knowing how to utilize it, and (b) how much I felt poorly equipped to do (a). Moreover, I&#x27;m also understanding how deeply reliant tech products are on domain knowledge in the industry they&#x27;re attempting to push into.<p>The conclusion here seems to be that I&#x27;d be far more effective at reaching my goals working in partnership with someone who checks the above boxes (which, in hindsight, was incredibly obvious). The problem I&#x27;m having now, though, is that none of my friends are similarly motivated to me, and networking feels nigh-impossible with the COVID-19 situation.<p>Does anyone here have tips on how they meet people and feel out whether there&#x27;s any professional compatibility – especially in the current situation? While I&#x27;m not opposed to just riding this out and trying to network the traditional way when the world reopens, it seems like there has to be a more effective way.
======
paulsutter
From Paul Graham
([http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html)):

> The good news is, choosing problems is something that can be learned. I know
> that from experience. Hackers can learn to make things customers want. [6]

>This is a controversial view. One expert on "entrepreneurship" told me that
any startup had to include business people, because only they could focus on
what customers wanted. I'll probably alienate this guy forever by quoting him,
but I have to risk it, because his email was such a perfect example of this
view:

    
    
        80% of MIT spinoffs succeed provided they have at least one management person in the team at the start. The business person represents the "voice of the customer" and that's what keeps the engineers and product development on track. 
    

> This is, in my opinion, a crock. Hackers are perfectly capable of hearing
> the voice of the customer without a business person to amplify the signal
> for them. Larry Page and Sergey Brin were grad students in computer science,
> which presumably makes them "engineers." Do you suppose Google is only good
> because they had some business guy whispering in their ears what customers
> wanted? It seems to me the business guys who did the most for Google were
> the ones who obligingly flew Altavista into a hillside just as Google was
> getting started.

~~~
Judgmentality
> Larry Page and Sergey Brin were grad students in computer science, which
> presumably makes them "engineers." Do you suppose Google is only good
> because they had some business guy whispering in their ears what customers
> wanted?

Larry Page and Sergey Brin originally wanted Google to be a pay-to-use service
and were against ads. I don't know how they came to their change in business
model, but I suspect it was after they hired people that weren't engineers to
help.

~~~
adventured
It occurred after Eric Schmidt took over operational control of Google. He
focused in on a rational business model (swiped from GoTo.com [1]), it's
specifically why the venture capitalists installed him. Schmidt had both an
engineering background and management experience. The story I recall from back
then was about John Doerr telling Schmidt to not fuck it up (recounted in a
nicer way by Schmidt, below [2]); the advertising runway was pretty simple for
Google, given the product they were building under the hood.

Schmidt joined Google in March 2001. For all of 1999 Google only had $220,000
in revenue (founded Sept 1998). Their early, primitive experiments in
advertising worked well enough, they brought in $19m in revenue for 2000
(which would increase 300% in 2001, and then 400% in 2002).

[1] 2013: [https://slate.com/business/2013/10/googles-big-break-how-
bil...](https://slate.com/business/2013/10/googles-big-break-how-bill-gross-
goto-com-inspired-the-adwords-business-model.html)

[2] 2005: [https://www.gq.com/story/google-larry-
sergey](https://www.gq.com/story/google-larry-sergey)

> Schmidt met all of Larry and Sergey's stringent criteria. He had a credible
> name, a Ph.D. (from Berkeley), and he promised not to push the boys aside or
> dismantle the quirky culture they'd engendered. "The board members told me,
> basically, 'Don't screw this thing up!' " Schmidt says. "They said, 'It
> needs some infrastructure, some growing, but the gem here is very real.'"

~~~
ZephyrBlu
Wow, that growth is absolutely insane even by startup standards.

Has there been another company since Google that grew so fast? $19mil revenue
in 2yrs, then tripling and quadrupling.

~~~
renewiltord
I believe Uber's revenue grew at that pace.

~~~
marc__1
Fastest company to reach $100m ARR [1]:

Slack - 3 years Twilio - ~5 years ServiceNow - 6 years Shopify - 7 years

[1] [https://www.bvp.com/bvp-nasdaq-emerging-cloud-
index](https://www.bvp.com/bvp-nasdaq-emerging-cloud-index)

~~~
davemel37
This list is saas companies. Its missing all consumer brands.

~~~
dublin
Compaq grew nearly as fast as some of those SaaS companies, and was engaged in
design, manufacturing and sales of a complex technology product that actually
had to work, not just buggy web software. IIRC, they reached $1B faster than
any company ever at the time. SaaS and "sharing" economy (really skimming
economy) apps are not sustainable, but then as it turned out, neither was
Compaq, after they entered into a stupid mergers...

~~~
adventured
Apple, at least back then, used to hold the record for fastest entry into the
Fortune 500. It took them seven years to get there (#411 their first year on
the list, in 1983).

They had $583 million in sales for 1983. $1.5 billion in today's dollar. They
hit basically $1b the next year, at $982 million for 1984 (in 1984 dollars).
Inflation adjusted I'm guessing they hit the $1 billion mark at about six
years in business.

I similarly recall that Compaq grew extremely fast. Dell's liftoff followed a
similar trajectory (the start was a bit slower, due to how Michael Dell
started the company).

------
chrisgoman
Unfortunately, founder-dating is the same as normal dating but probably even
harder as the stakes are higher. It's very difficult to find same "motivation-
level" people (how much do they "want" it, are they as "hungry" as you, etc.)
and it is very hard to gauge with talk as you have to see their actions to
really know and sometimes it may be too late. At the same time, there is also
the "stage in life" (single, married, etc.) and how much can they risk (like a
45-yr old person may not be able to quit their high-paying job so you will
carry the load and end up with a lot of resentment)

Since you work at a FAANG as an engineer, I assume you are fairly well
compensated so I suggest finding a semi-expensive hobby (definitely not FIRE
friendly) like sailing or flying which may cost like $1k/mo to something you
remotely enjoy so you get to meet people from all walks of life and domain
expertise enjoying a "not cheap" hobby. The fact that they can afford it means
they are motivated. The person doing your hobby may not be the person you end
up starting a business with but it may be one-step away (degrees of
separation).

This may be bad advice ... so take with a grain of salt :)

~~~
taurath
Basically, go hang with rich people. It’s probably not bad advice. I’m not
entirely sure why but it makes me a bit sad to think about.

~~~
chrisgoman
They can't be "too rich" where they are financially retired (they are not
going to be in the same motivation level) but at least have some disposable
income to engage in such an activity. It's a self-selecting network.

Why do people pay $150k to get an MBA at Harvard if you can pay $20k somewhere
else and maybe get the EXACT same education? It's because you know 99% of the
people there paid $150k and you have a "better" network.

~~~
taurath
And yet we like to fool ourselves with ideas of a meritocracy.

------
fgimenez
I’m a VC, so this take is biased. Liberally apply grains of salt.

If you are looking to start a VC-scale startup, I’d suggest talking to VCs who
can help introduce you to domain experts. There are a few reasons this is
beneficial:

\- You get to battle test your idea to hone the story. This will help you
recruit non-technical people.

\- You build relationships with VC for the moment you need funding.

\- You learn which VC are actually helpful. The meme is that all VC have to
pitch how much value they add, but the reality is most can’t/won’t/don’t
outside of MBA 101 platitudes.

\- A great VC is always building out networks for BD and founder
identification. You should leverage that to help in your space.

\- Even if the idea doesnt pan out, if you prove yourself to be talented and
hard working, they are incentivized to help you find a role relevant to your
interests.

This is colored by my personal investing philosophy that you should prioritize
meeting “makers”. Others prioritize meeting executives, or sources of capital,
or influencers, etc... None is a “true” path, there are successes in each. But
the ones focused on makers always want to chat with folks like you.

~~~
mav3rick
I doubt you all reply to cold emails ? As someone who has no connections to
the VC world, it does feel intimidating just writing a cold email. Then again
- nothing to lose.

~~~
lisper
You'd be surprised. VCs will often respond to cold calls because part of their
job is to cultivate connections with people who will be starting the Next Big
Thing. The best way to do that is to get them into their rolodex before they
get on anyone else's radar.

But be careful what you wish for. Getting the cold call response and even the
first meeting is relatively easy. But it is also easy to exhibit a level of
cluelessness that will get you blackballed, and if that happens you will
probably never know it. So that first meeting can be very much a two-edged
sword. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

~~~
halfmatthalfcat
Why would you get blackballed for being clueless? Are founders suppose to come
equipped with how to speak VC jargon? Aren’t VCs suppose to find unpolished
talent with the ability to execute, invest and be a resource to make them
successful?

~~~
lisper
Being clueless != not knowing the jargon. In fact, one of the most common
forms of cluelessness is throwing jargon around in a misguided attempt to show
that you know things that you actually don't. Being clueless means not knowing
something that you really _should_ have known, and that does not include
jargon. I'll give you an example from my own experience: I had a meeting with
a name-brand VC during which I levied some harsh criticism at a company that
it turned out that they had invested in, indicating that I either didn't know
they had invested in it or that I did know and was just being obnoxious.
Either way, I was exhibiting cluelessness. One of the many things you _are_
expected to know before talking to any VC is all the information on their web
site: their portfolio companies, who the partners are, where they spent their
careers, what their investment thesis is. Happily, that one mistake was not
enough to actually get me blackballed throughout the industry, but I never had
another meeting with anyone at that firm.

------
yumraj
There are numerous ways to approach the problem you're facing, but first of
all it'd be good to understand the core problem you're running into.
Unfortunately, without too many details this is all going to be a little
abstract.

Based on the detail you've provided, it seems one problem you're facing is
access to industry domain experts who can both validate what you're doing and
also perhaps help you refine the product and market access.

If that is correct, I'd suggest that you don't, at this point, look for a non-
technical co-founder but rather just approach people with domain expertise in
the industry that you're trying to target for advice and validation by
requesting a short conversation. LinkedIn can be a very good source and
depending on how you approach the people and your own profile you may get a
very good response from people. Anywhere above 20-30% response rate would be
very good just to set expectations, it can be higher or lower but don't be
disheartened.

Depending on the domain you're targeting there is a much much larger pool of
people who will offer you initial advice than who will be willing to join as
co-founder. Once you get connected and they accept, just talk to these people.
Get input, and also ask for further connections, as in is there someone you
should be speaking to that they can introduce you to. Use them in future when
you're looking to make a sale or for early adoption and again, for advice.

This will kick start your journey and you will find people. If you find
someone truly awesome and nice, who is also interested in what you're doing,
you can ask them to be an advisor. If you find someone who is interested in
joining, then perhaps have them join. But be careful, and make diligent
decision before having people join the team.

~~~
aumakua
Hey, thanks for the very thoughtful response.

I realize now that my initial post may have implied otherwise, but I'm mostly
looking to start establishing relationships that may lead to entrepreneurial
collaboration in the future. I'm definitely not looking to jump straight into
anything at the moment – it's not like there's a particular idea I'm in love
with, and I'm naturally a very cautious person so I'd like to take the time to
get to know people before starting a project with them.

My concern is moreso that it takes a lot of time and effort to build trust,
and so I'd like to start meeting such people sooner rather than later.

~~~
yumraj
You're welcome and welcome to entrepreneurship. :)

Another option, often not considered, depending on where you are in your
career is to join a very early stage startup that is doing something in your
domain, for 1-2 years.

This may or may not be an option for you depending on your own factors, but
that is a good option as it helps people migrate from the large company
mindset to a startup mindset. Also, it helps extend your network with the
right kind of people that may help when you go on your own.

------
jjguy
I’d recommend joining an existing, early stage startup in the same/similar
niche you eventually want to build your own product in. While there, make an
effort to network with the non-technical staff.

Not only will you learn a ton about shipping product in a startup (risking
someone else’s money), but you will also grow your own network - including
non-technical founder types.

This model worked for me. I spent twelve years with the US federal government.
I had great tech and business skills, but it was all federally focused.

I joined the founding team of a startup, using my tech background. We got
acquired 15 months in by a later stage startup. The resulting company IPO’d
four years later. I joined another startup in the same industry as CTO just
after their Series A, we got acquired two years later. Then I launched my own
- 8 years after leaving the federal government.

It is a ton easier now, with all the relationships from the last two. (Not to
mention the depth of knowledge on everything)

It is easy to think startups are all about the product & technology. But it is
so much more!

~~~
arbitrary_name
A variation of this was posted above and I want to repeat: not always a great
idea as it is easy to end up not having deep engagement with other business
functions. It becomes heavily dependent on finding the right team.

Good options for maximizing your network 1) stay with a Faang and reach out to
people internally - many of the best non tech people are inside Amazon, FB etc
2) consider consulting that blends you with larger teams or different
functions, either with a company or freelancing.

------
Geee
I wouldn't co-found with a business person (whatever that means). You need as
many people as possible who actually make the product (developers and
designers), and someone who is passionate about solving problems in a
particular domain and talking to customers (a product manager). Sometimes
these roles are just one person, sometimes two or three. Sales & marketing can
be handled by the same team or hired for. You can hire sales people with
existing networks if that is needed. I think that if one person can handle all
of these roles, he should.

------
lsoenke
1\. I don't think finding a qualified "business" person will be excessively
difficult. From my experience, there is an under-supply of engineers and an
over-supply of business people wanting to found. Thus, if you are an engineer
from a FAANG company, there should be large demand for your skillset by
business people looking to found. That being said, the main ways to find non-
technical co-founders is via network (your FAANG friends are bound to know
someone, ask them for an introduction) and events. Also, don't be afraid to
cold reachout to someone who might be interesting. 2\. Be sure you want a
"business" person in your founding team. Many great companies made it without
one. If you need very deep domain knowledge then yes, it can be beneficial to
have such a person. However, that being said, if you don't have knowledge in
that domain you should also not really be looking to found in that domain.
However, that is besides the point. Many "business" skills like sales,
marketing and fundraising can be learned to a good enough standard by most
technical cofounders. I have always has bad experience taking on non-techincal
co-founders to handle the "business" part.

Just to make this clear, I do not think "business" co-founders are useless.
There are a lot of very good ones that bring a lot of value. All I am saying
is that I have made bad experiences taking in "business" people to handle the
"business" part of the startup. Most of the time you can (and should) learn
the necessary skills yourself. Every startup needs technical co-founders,
however most startups don't NEED non-technical co-founders.

~~~
hazz99
I think there is a huge difference between the “business” taught at university
and the “business” skills you need to launch a new venture.

In my experience, formal education tends to be very corporate-operations
focused because that’s where most grads go. Most courses presuppose that the
company has already found product-market fit - using these same behaviours in
a new venture context could be dangerous.

Ideally, you’d find someone who recognises this difference and works to learn
the differences between the environments, and brings the best of both worlds
to the venture.

------
dragostudor
It is important to work with someone that you can trust. Someone that can push
through hell together with you and not abandon everything at the smallest
bump. It takes a strong character, ambition and sense of urgency. When it
comes to non-technical / business people, it might be counter-intuitive, but
having attended a good university or having worked for a good company can
indicate high intelligence and not entrepreneurial drive. This being said, you
can still collaborate with technical people that are comfortable with selling
the vision, product and services, can hustle and are reliable.

Also, be careful of non-compete agreements by joining other start-ups.

There are several ways in which you can find good co-founders:

1\. Don’t prioritise finding a co-founders, just start building something and
reach out to people. They might love what you’re doing and come on-board.

2\. Get recommendations via your network about people who want to build a
company and have complementary skills / similar goals.

3\. Increase your visibility, publish your thoughts, network and debate about
the future - randomness / serendipity is a wondrous force

4\. Accelerators such as Antler and EF - as a last resort.

I’m also looking for smart, relentless people that want to build a better
future for generations to come. Don’t hesitate to reach out via linkedin -
username: tudordragos

~~~
dublin
^^THIS! Trust is THE most important factor. Treat this like finding someone to
marry, because (sadly) there's a decent chance your startup could outlast your
marriage. (Pay attention to that, BTW! Your family is _really_ important, and
unless you've already made a huge mistake, no company is worth losing them
over.) Any good/honest partner will be willing to tie equity to milestones -
never just toss a big chunk of equity to your CEO/cofounder just because
others are stupid enough to do that. (Keep in mind the dictum that in most all
startup cos., your equity is simultaneously worthless and the only thing of
value the company has, other than your team which is usually there because of
the potential for equity. As soon as you're funded, pay people fairly - not
top of scale, but enough to keep them happy and loving the job.) And yes,
FWIW, I've been on (and been burned on) both sides of these deals, both as a
CTO looking for a good CEO to raise money and get us to market (lost my a$$)
and as a contract CEO hired to get a company off the ground. The ONLY thing
that matters is the people themselves, and more importantly, their character,
trustworthiness, and insistence on being fully upright in all things.

It's much harder to find these people than you might think, and it can be
really hard to get rid of a bad one if you screw up. (As the Russians say,
"Doveryai, no proveryai - Trust, but verify!")

------
zbruhnke
Honestly my advice would be to leave FAANG and join an early stage startup ...
you're much more likely to meet a wider array of people with similar passions
and interests and varied skillsets.

Even if that startup itself fails you are likely to meet people you could
start another company with and if it succeeds it will be an even better place
to start a company from when leaving, most exceptional founders love to
support their employees leaving to start something new.

~~~
ditonal
Respectfully this is awful advice, as someone who’s worked at FAANG and early
stage startups. The idea that working for early stage startups will help you
start your own is a myth propagated intentionally by founders/VCs to recruit
SWEs with lowball offers.

FAANG is actually way better to meet cofounders. At Google you can have lunch
with a talented person every day (there’s internal apps to network like this),
plus countless other opportunities to network both formally and informally.

In contrast, at an early stage startup you’ll mostly work with the same people
every day and your network will stagnate.

Furthermore, early stage startups tend to have a ton of work that needs to be
done that they hire there engineers to do. Unless you get CTO title, you’re
probably not going to get exposed much to the BD side or get investor access.

Finally, being able to work full time on your startup to get demo ready to
pitch is super helpful. A nest egg from FAANG RSUs is key here, startup ISOs
are probably worth nothing and will reduce your cushioning.

If you want to do a startup, go to networking events, apply to YC, etc but
leaving FAANG to be an early stage employee w goal, not closer, especially if
you don’t at least get CTO title.

~~~
jameshush
I have to agree with ditonal. Going from a FAANG company to a startup for
anything less than a CTO role is a bad idea. I know this because I did this.
While it all worked out in the end (I wanted to move to Los Angeles to do
heavy metal stuff with my heavy metal friends anyway) there's definitely a
hard ceiling at a startup.

Stay at the cushy high paying job and network on nights and weekends. Even
better, make a point to ask a person out to lunch every week at the FAANG job
once the pandemic is over.

"Networking" for me has just been hanging out with my music and YouTuber
buddies. Turns out if you know how to SPELL PHP or HTML you can provide HUGE
value to non-technical friends. Doing something as simple as fixing a typo in
some JavaScript tracking code for friend's websites makes me look like I've
shown them fire for the first time. Find a hobby you like that's non-technical
(for me it's learning Chinese, salsa dancing, and metal), show up, have a good
time, and within a year or two you'll have a high quality network of non-
technical partners.

------
gkoberger
There's one way and one way only: former coworkers. That's the only good
option. Someone you've worked with. And not just someone you liked... someone
you admire.

That being said, all high-impact jobs at a startup are technical at first and
then slowly shifts to nontechnical. So early on, your non-technical cofounder
will be bored and not have much to do. And as time goes on, assuming they are
still around, that will shift.

Consider instead going with two technical founders, and assume one or both of
you will end up shifting into a more operational role.

------
lgleason
This is a semi serious answer but...

If we were not in the middle of COVID I would say to take a trip to Atlanta.
In the Atlanta startup community there is no shortage of MBA and marketing
types with lots of ideas that are just looking for a developer who is willing
to work for next to nothing and equity that is much smaller than it should be.

Of course all of these business types will tell you about how they are the
tech visionaries. They dominate most of the big startup events in that town
that are supposed to be tech focused and will write countless marketing pieces
telling you why their next co-working space makes Atlanta the "Silicon Valley
of the East". In reality, a former tech reporter for the Atlanta Business
Chronicle more accurately called Atlanta the Bangalore of the South since many
larger tech groups will open offices here to try to reduce costs.

Don't get me wrong with Atlanta, it is a great place to live from a standpoint
of having a lower cost of living compared with what you can get for a salary,
especially if you are able to work for a west coast company that pays well.
There are also other cities with a similar dynamic.

My point is that there are many ways to find it, but be careful because you
may be trading one set of problems for another.

~~~
dublin
FWIW, though I love and grew up in Austin, it an _extremely_ dysfunctional
startup/VC community, so unless you just have to have the cool factor, find
almost anyplace else to start your company - real estate will be lots cheaper,
too, and you might even have a functioning city government. As I said, I love
it here, but will be leaving before too much longer, as it's going all the
wrong ways, esp. w.r.t. startup culture.

------
skmurphy
We have helped a number of teams form at the Bootstrapper Breakfast over the
last fourteen years. You are welcome to join us, here is a schedule of
meetings in September: [https://bootstrappersbreakfast.com/2020/08/25/roundup-
of-eve...](https://bootstrappersbreakfast.com/2020/08/25/roundup-of-events-
for-bootstrappers-in-september-2020/) You can also see a list of meetings on
eventbrite: [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-valley-bootstrapper-
bre...](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-valley-bootstrapper-breakfast-
online-tickets-112267146056)

I would NOT quit your day job until you have a clear direction and a
reasonable certainly of progress. Treat your current employer as a passive
investor in your next venture.

Here is a pointer to the first blog post in a series that provides some
practical advice on how to find cofounders:
[https://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2010/06/25/finding-a-co-
founde...](https://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2010/06/25/finding-a-co-founder/)

------
Cro_on
right here on hn is / has the potential to be an ideal recruiting ground for
non technical entrepreneurs.

i mean, what you're essentially looking for is the intellectual equivalent of
a bar, or more conveniently, the halls of residence in a good university.

the reason universities are so ideal for finding cofounders is that perfect
blend of infinite trajectory (minimal real world obligations) and equal
standing. ideally, the place you're talking about has the capacity to
integrate these things into a social sphere, without the media.

hn can fulfil this role more or less, and could do so to a greater extent if
they had the incentive to. you have the karma / profile to judge someone's
character and understanding, and their further contact if that's what they
want.

it so happens that all of the job postings are for technical positions, but
that is due to the fact that it is more likely for someone nontechnical to
need an engineer than the other way around.

where else would the millennial steve jobs be lurking? (this is not
exclusively rhetoric – if there is another answer that's not hn then go there)

if they're nowhere obvious, then they're hustling, and good luck finding them
if you didn't go to school with them.

------
muzani
Non-tech founders are more abundant, but usually outside your circles. You'll
probably want two types: someone who can handle business/funding/sales, and
someone who can focus on the product. More people have finance degrees than
tech ones, and there's a lot of people who are domain experts.

A good bet is someone who has their soul into the product. Someone who
sincerely understands the pain point and works at it. If you're doing
something for ships, you probably want to find someone who works within the
ship industry. Spotify wasn't founded by music producers, but it was founded
by people who were passionate about music streaming.

------
langitbiru
Why don't you learn some business skills yourself? The materials are available
on internet. Sure it takes time.

You want to learn digital marketing? There are many good tutorials on Youtube
or you can buy some digital marketing books.

If you took this path, you would reach the state on which you may not need a
business co-founder anymore. If you met a good business co-founder, at least,
you could gauge whether they are competent or not using your business skills.

Some good materials for you to start learning business skills:

Digital marketing:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/neilvkpatel](https://www.youtube.com/user/neilvkpatel)

Corporate finance:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63B2lDhyKOs...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63B2lDhyKOsImI7FjCf6eDW)

Supply chain: [https://www.coursera.org/specializations/supply-chain-
manage...](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/supply-chain-
management#courses)

HR: [https://www.coursera.org/specializations/human-resource-
mana...](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/human-resource-
management#courses)

Of course, YC Startup Library is a top-notch resource:
[https://www.ycombinator.com/library](https://www.ycombinator.com/library)

About networking in Covid-19.... Actually it's still possible. You could join
some online communities. You could build your brand on social media (Linkedin,
Twitter, etc). For example, if I wanted to network with some influential
people on blockchain space, I would follow their Twitter and contribute to the
conversation (Twitter threads), I would join an opensource blockchain project
and build some connections with the core developers. You get the idea.

Good luck!

~~~
Grustaf
Everyone should learn the basics of business, but people have different
talents and if you're born an engineer chances are you'll never be a very good
salesman, and vice versa. Much better to focus on what you enjoy and do best,
and find a business guy to focus on that part.

Obviously, if you are both well rounded and have some understanding of the
other's area that will make things more efficient but don't try to BE the
other.

------
vinnyi
It's nice when you have friends that have the same goals/aspirations. For the
rest of us, I suspect the best you can do is to put a lot of effort into
searching for someone compatible via a combination of cold outreach, friends
of friends, etc. -- being as vocal as possible. (On the other hand, don't let
it be your excuse for why something isn't taking off.)

I would take my products, show them to as many people as possible, and find
out who is interested. While engaging with those people, explain to them your
situation and that you're looking for some help. Try to leverage your
potential users' networks. (Just my 2 cents.)

All that aside -- I'd be interested in chatting about what you're working on
and seeing if we might collaborate in the future. Feel free to reach out:
vcinv10@gmail.com

------
francescopnpn
As the solo founder of a profitable $1MM ARR company I'd say you can do it on
your own and there's nothing they can add anyway. Just pick a domain you're
deeply obsessed with in the first place.

Remember, in software in 2020 the only important thing is distribution. Work
backwards from distribution. The biggest SaaS products aren't that great, they
just have a great way to get sales/leads. The best consumer products, aren't
that great (or weren't that great) - they just found an hack. 99.9% of
startups thinks they need to make a great product and then raise VC and throw
millions on FB and G ads -being highly unprofitable- (since PPC is a game for
established deep-pocket companies with ridiculous CACs)

Literally just hacks: Airbnb, spamming Craiglist. Dropbox, referral incentive-
based storage + a viral funny video for hackers. Stripe, they happened to be
in an early YC batch. Facebook started with the most exclusive place in the
world: Harvard. Hotmail: adding "sent with hotmail" at the end of the email.
etc.

If you find a way to for ex. post on Facebook Groups at scale, then you should
work a product backward from there since not all channels are suited for all
products. If you have many friends in the intel community, probably you should
make a product for the US Defense. Get the gist?

in 2020 any decent dev can create any product and/or copy your idea. what's
impossible is getting tons of customers at a reasonable acquisition cost as to
be profitable and have to spare to re-invest in growth.

Hardware/scientific breakthroughs are obviously different. Making the product
is h hard part and distribution is easy: if you inventhe the transistor, the
customers will be there.

so yeah a sales cofounder will add nothing as he wont happen to know which
temporary weird thing on the internet allows in a very specific way to get a
ton of customers at a very cheap price (ideally free). If he did, he would
hire anyone in the world as a contractor to build a prototype and distribute
it through the hack he found- 99% of the work is already done when you found
the well. If you'll attempt to methodically find a well (usually one just
stumbles upon it), know that before you'll find find 1 you'll have to go thru
100+ dry wells.

The alternative I guess is you could make software for a super niche kind of
business. like Insurance. Software for insurance agents. Maybe an even more
narrow niche. That's because you can reach these people via phone or email.
which is free.

------
an_opabinia
> I'm finding it quite unfulfilling

Leaving your job is going to be a very expensive mistake. If this is your
motivation, your personal lack of fulfillment is going to be the #1 obstacle
to recruiting others. This would be true of a cultural or non-profit
enterprise too, and you underestimate how much recruiting by people who are
chasing fulfillment in their lives boils down to, "And here's a bunch of dad's
money" \- those are the people you are competing with in terms of recruiting
people into your thing, and those rich kids are going to do it better than
you.

My suggestion is to only pursue something that you can do exclusively by
yourself. That is the only takeaway. Or don't do this at all.

------
boltzmannbrain
[https://www.joinef.com](https://www.joinef.com)

~~~
hmexx
^ an alternative: www.antler.co

------
walterbell
Offer free technical reviews, delivered by video call, for business
pitch/plans written by founders who are looking for a technical co-founder.

Either you recruit them to your idea, or they recruit you to theirs.

In the best case, you will jointly come up with a new idea.

------
nell
I think you need to go to a smaller company not a startup necessarily. Go to a
company that has PMF, working on scaling but the org size is still small to
have meaningful relationships. Also you should be able to see your work
directly impacting to your customers. People in other orgs are coming to you
or your immediate team to discuss rollout/customer issues etc. Avoid companies
with too many levels in the hierarchy.

Assuming you're in your 20s or early 30s, I recommend going to a place run by
experienced people who can mentor you. I'm beyond that age range, but still
have a boss who is experienced and teaches me something everyday.

------
nefitty
[https://indiehackers.com](https://indiehackers.com) has local communities
around the world and online forums for discussing technical and non-technical
startup processes

~~~
christophergs
There's even a group: [https://www.indiehackers.com/group/looking-to-partner-
up](https://www.indiehackers.com/group/looking-to-partner-up)

In my experience Indie Hackers has an unusually high concentration of people
who get things done, the kind of people with grit who you might want to
partner with.

------
arbitrary_name
I am non-technical (strategy consultant, worked in biz Dev, led scrum teams in
implementation programs, program management, implemand now work with Faangs as
clients). Would love to connect to future founders and others interested in my
skillset, but felt like most people around HN are looking for good SWEs, and
never see any postings or even discussions that fit my experienced. Would be
awesome to have a regular post where non technical folks can stick their hands
up for roles, discussion, to make connections etc.

------
cynusx
As a successful startup founder I see both sides of the table, the problem for
business founders seem to be that they literally have no idea what a good
technical founder looks like often signing up junior devs as cofounders.

Then I see great devs and tech leads that wonder how to break into engineering
management or CTO of a credible startup because all they see is random people
with no clue pitching them.

Reach out to me and if you're a solid engineer I'll find you a solid business
partner. (email in profile)

------
rvn1045
You can learn a lot of these things yourself and if your into bootstrapping
you can do it solo for a long time. It’ll be more work and take longer for
sure.

I would suggest getting on twitter and communities like indie hackers. People
share how they’re getting users, they’re first customers, marketing tactics
etc

As you consume more of this information and hack on your own projects you’ll
develop a playbook for how to do it yourself.

Good luck.

------
vmurthy
As an engineer who later did an MBA, I found b-school to be a great melting
pot for people from different backgrounds. Granted your situation is
different, but your uni might be a great place. Depending on what you mean by
"non-technical", you might want to seek out alumni who are successful
salespeople or marketers etc. Good luck!

------
i-j
An additional perspective, Carol Chen had an interesting post and thoughts
about her ups and downs of being a co-founder / founder

[https://carolchen.me/blog/founding-bad/](https://carolchen.me/blog/founding-
bad/)

------
kevmo314
Send me an email (<username> at gmail), would love to connect! I was in the
same situation but found two non-technical cofounders. Now I'm the only
technical person on the team, but it's at least great working with others.
Much less lonely than working alone.

------
csunbird
Kind of relevant to the topic, but I am unable to find a technical co-founder
to work with me on my pet project that might or might not take off. I am a
software developer but it is a two man job, because I lack knowledge on mobile
department.

Any ideas?

~~~
sopromo
I am always open to new ideas and if it sounds like a good one I can get
onboard

------
wesammikhail
For context: I am a software engineer and angel investor that specializes in
early stage exits. I have built and exited multiple startups together with a
bunch of wonderful people over the years.

The problem you are describing is not unique in any way, shape or form. I
coach dozens of startups every year and your problem is more common than you
might think. When I first started, I was just like you. I had no one to turn
to and I felt like I could get nowhere. Meetups and networking events were and
still are a waste of time for the most part as you don’t really want to get
into business with people you´ve only met for 2 hours and know very little
about on a personal level. So where does that leave you?

1) __You don’t need a non-technical person __: Find a technical co-founder who
has transitioned into management or have some sense of how to run a business
and have said person be in charge of the duties that you don’t excel at. The
reason I usually make this recommendation to people in your position is that
most non-technical people tend to have a problem communicating with their
technical counter-part because they don´t understand the technical challenges
ahead the same way you do. It leads to resentment and hostility when
communication breaks down. This is one of the most common reasons startups
fail. Communication is key in team building.

2) __Keep working on your product and ignore all the fluff __: Put your head
down and grind an MVP out before worrying about any of the other stuff. We can
all pump out ideas by the hundreds, but execution is really what matters at
the end of the day. Building an MVP most often does not require a co-founder.
It just requires you to spend some of your free time building things. Do what
you can for now (if you are serious about this) and stop worrying about
“expansion plans”, “go to market strategies” and “networks”.

2) __Get a couple of advisors that you can trust __: Ask those who have gone
through this whole thing before and let them mentor you. A lot of times people
connect via their advisors´ networks and that usually ends up being a lot more
successful of a partnership. This is because any person your advisor is going
to suggest you partner up with in some capacity will have been screened
/filtered by said advisor. I connect people at least a dozen times a year that
I think would be great fit for each other, and that ends up working a lot
better than finding people via networking events. The key here is to find
advisors that are honest and want what is in your best interest.

3) __Utilize capital properly __: If you have an MVP for an idea that is worth
its salt, finding capital these days is extremely easy. In fact, it is so easy
that people raise absurd amounts because capital is competing for deals. There
is a lot more money out there than there are good companies to invest in. All
you need is for your product to be in the hands of a couple hundred people.
This validates __you __and shows that you are actually doing real work.
Investors invest in people first; products and ideas are secondary for the
most part. Take that money and hire for the things you are not good at. You
don’t always need a co-founder. Sometimes a good employee can become your co-
founder after the fact as they prove to you over time that they are trust-
worthy, hardworking and capable.

4) __Create a communication channels __: Once you have an MVP ready, make sure
that communication channels with your users are well established for
continuous feedback. As an example, you can create a Discord group where your
users can give you feedback and feature requests /ideas. That becomes the
mechanism for other like-minded people, that are already using your product,
to reach out to you. It would be impossible for me to count the number of
times people have reached out to me via one of those communication channels
about one of my startups. When people are excited about what you are doing,
they will seek you out rather than the other way around.

5) __COVID is actually a blessing not a curse __: There are now tens of
thousands of people like you that are sitting at home waiting for their moment
to shine. They are all motivated and willing to get to work. __You just need
to have something to present to the world so that people can be excited __.
Remember, you are asking for someone to go on a journey together with you.
Excite people and have them chase you.

Finally, if you (or anyone else for that matter) wants to have a chat about
their startup/product, feel free to reach out to me. My email is in my
profile.

~~~
skmurphy
your email is not currently in your profile
[https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=wesammikhail](https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=wesammikhail)

~~~
wesammikhail
Fixed!

------
btian
I would love to have a business co-founder! I'm a solid dev, worked for many
years at a FAANG company, and MVP is done. Feel free to reach out (email in
profile).

------
stevewilhelm
My I suggest Lunchclub, "Curated 1:1 professional connections."

[https://lunchclub.ai/](https://lunchclub.ai/)

------
mrkn1
I'd love to connect and collaborate, or point you to contacts who could
collaborate with you. Please ping me at support@plumebio.com

------
mstipetic
I went through joinef.com - a startup incubator which focuses on individuals
joining in and finding cofounders there

------
cvaidya1986
Foundersnetwork.com has a few. If you need an invite let me know.

~~~
NHQ
I tried to submit my email and got an access denied security warning, no
explanation.

~~~
cvaidya1986
Do you have a website with your portfolio

~~~
cmuguythrow
Not OP, but I am interested in this community and I am also getting an error
when I try to sign up:

Access Denied foundersnetwork.com is using a security service for protection
against online attacks. An action has triggered the service and blocked your
request. Please try again in a few minutes. If the issue persist, please
contact the site owner for further assistance.

I have a personal website but am not comfortable sharing here - is there a way
to message you?

~~~
kholmes79
hey there, writing from FN. Would you be willing to share the reference ID on
the WAF blocked access page so we can troubleshoot your issue? You can email
it to support(at)foundersnetwork(dot)com.

------
maksimilian
what kind of projects are you working on? or what do you want to be working
on?

------
onovive
here there might be one

------
sprsimplestuff
twitter

------
100-xyz
Hi,

Dont mean to hijack the thread...

I am in a similar position. I have a startup toonclip.com. Its a web based
animation editor, has about 100 registered users and has some product market
fit. Would love to meet business oriented founders who are familiar with this
industry. Please drop an email to leisenmint AT protonmail DOT com

