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Is this idea stupid?
8 points by nextmoveone on Nov 9, 2007 | hide | past | favorite | 22 comments
A mix of like yc news/myspace/meetup just for 'start-up'-ers?

A few features: -Meet people looking for co-founders

-Find people looking to co-found

-Rate peoples skill i.e. skill, endurance, persistence, attitude

-Organize demo days in your area

just a thought.Can I get some feedback please?



No idea is stupid... just keep trying and learn from your mistakes.

I think you might be on the right track if you're thinking of new ways to find people to co-found with. Cofoundr exists, and News.YC exists, but have you ever wondered why people still complain about finding cofounders? Obviously, the problem still exists.

Some thoughts:

- Instead of a demo day in your area, build a site where its easy for hackers to upload their Web apps and show them off to all the other users. You pay for the hosting and handle all the tedious server stuff, and I simply upload my code, click "Go", and the app goes live for a day or two. Users can upvote the projects that they think are the coolest, and hackers accumulate popularity points.

- Maintain a "Top-List" of "best entrepreneurs", ranked by the number of votes that each person gets on Demo Days. Perhaps categorize this by the type of product each entrepreneur is interested in building. So if there is a Top 10 list for entrepreneurs building stuff that has something to do with mobile software, and I'm #2 on the list and you are #1, hey that looks like a promising team. At least, it's better than going blindly.

- In addition to the Demo Day software, build a Web app that makes it easy for entrepreneurs/programmers to keep track of their hobby projects online and constantly display them to the world for everyone to see. Imagine a place where thousands of hackers all have their hobby stuff online. So I do a search for "mobile software" on the site, and I find 10 people that did some hacks for fun and are showing off their work. If I'm looking for a cofounder, I would contact the person who I thought had the best work.

Maybe the 3 things I listed here are crap, but my point is that you should constantly reiterate on a seemingly "dumb idea" because eventually it might turn into a winner.


As an add-on to that point:

Make sure what you are doing is SOLVING a user problem, not giving them a WAY to solve their problem. If you are making a site to help entrepreneurs find co-founders, you'd better deliver on that promise: if people that use your site can't find a co-founder within 3 weeks of trying, they are not going to come back again.


my god, you're right. that's why i'm no longer on okcupid. /sigh...


I have a feeling that the pay dating sites must work better and have more attractive people than the free ones, but I haven't yet been willing to pay to find out.


Thanks for the feedback I really appreciate it!


You're already skewing your feedback by titling the post "is this idea stupid". It should be more like "what do you think of my idea?"...and yes, it's stupid....j/k


This idea would work if you can license e-Harmony's matching algorithm (or build a similar one of your own) to pair people up with prospective co-founders. Unless you really know someone, you don't want to go into business with them.


I am very happy to tell you that it already exists!!!!!

http://www.bizfriendz.com/

The part that sold me is that they spelled friends with a "z".

Seriously though: have you heard of gobignetwork.com? cofoundr.com? I think the ratings you mention would be meaningless. I don't think a social network is the best way to organize an event. I don't think social networks are good ways to meet cofounders. I think existing networks solve your other problems. Sorry to godzilla your tokyo, I may be wrong and/or stupid.


Here's what I want. A social place for self-employed folks to work. Coffee shops these days are full of laptop jockeys. Proprieters hate it when we hog the booths, and we hate it when they charge for wireless.

Give me a place catered to the entrepreneurial types. BUT maintain the social+creative coffee shop vibe... I'm thinking along the lines of Diesel Cafe, not the Cambridge Innovation Center.

Charge membership fees, serve healthy meals, be open 24 hours, whatever. Start with Cambridge, then franchise around the world.

Naturally, there'd be an online component... your Hackspot account gives you access to the network, job board, etc etc.

Anyone know anything about starting a company in meatspace? =P


It doesn't really seem like you are doing much that couldn't be accomplished with an existing social network. Or at least an OpenSocial / Facebook app.


good point.


I've posted before about this, so I apologize to anyone reading this for the second time. I'm currently working on a startup similar to this, based around the groups who were not accepted by ycombinator. A place to demo your startup, get feedback, and find co-founders. Also to find a place to stay if the group is planning on moving to SV, or anywhere for that matter. There are a few other features I'm currently implementing also. Overall, its just a place to keep each other motivated and help one another out. Nothing putting down ycombinator, but just a place to connect and share. I was going to have it up and running this week, however, I've been low on time lately. I should have something within the next week or two though.


Are you trying to make money from it? If not, it might be a good idea. I don't think anybody will want to pay for it, and advertising tends to be poorly received by your target users.


Not looking for any money on this, as long as the site pays for the server and domain name costs I'm happy.


maybe you can collaborate with cofoundr.com?


I have been thinking about same area for quite a while and not able to convince myself because there are many different sites with some partial information. And startup market has not large user base.. larger market <= more user and some day that returns more money compare to site with less user base.... well thats my thinking..


Yeah I would more want to do it cause there is a need from what I can see.

I'm not interested in making it a huge revenue generating site.

As long as it sustains itself, I'd be happy.


Its seems like a very competitive space and relatively small. Right away you are limiting yourself to entrepreneur types who have limited capital and hence arent an ideal target.

Mayve think about other larger groups that might have the same characteristics

Good luck!


It seems like everyone here has an idea and wants other people to follow them. If any of the YCnews lost souls are to come together many will have to abandon theirs.


We have a place to meet and discuss ideas:

news.yc.

Good enough for me, just remember to put contact information in your profile.


No, it's not stupid.


how many hacker trackers do we have now? 3 or 4?




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