Ask HN: Can we brainstorm a better way to find a co-founder?

45 points

11 years ago

I haven’t seen a great solution to this problem - have you? Many thought leaders have weighed in from Drew Houston who summarizes the dilemma well (http://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-good-technical-co-founders) to Jason Freedman who gives great advice from the perspective of a non-technical person (http://humbledmba.com/please-please-please-stop-asking-how-to-find). The reality is that entrepreneurs come from a range of backgrounds across all sectors and finding someone you know well, trust, and is fully committed launching a biz (especially an unproven concept) is really hard. The advice many people offer is to use your network, go to meetups, and try online tools like http://founderdating.com. I have tried this, but frankly it’s not a quick process unless you are willing to pick someone you barely know (this works sometimes a la Kevin Rose).

So what’s the solution? My process is to put myself around the “type” of people I need to meet (this could be technical, a specific skill, etc). For me, I want to meet a CTO. However, instead of rushing the process I am simply looking to meet people as determined to build a company as myself. If they are technical or non-technical it doesn’t matter, but I believe opportunities will come from simply getting to know like-minded people. In the meantime I am following this approach: 1) Learning to code (at least the basics) 2) Do as much as possible to validate your idea (talk to customers/users, presell, etc) 3) Find a technical adviser that you trust (help with finding the right person) 4) Paying someone to prototype ($1-5K isn’t a lot to test a business) 5) Get to know potential Co-Founders

What do you think of this approach? Would a private facebook group an interesting ice-breaker to show what you are working on, get feedback, and make friendships - with the goal of helping and getting to people rather than solely finding a co-founder. If so, I made this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842762052466224/. What's your solution to this problem? I am open to any and all ideas.

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