When I switched to firefox (from galeon), I had to install several add-ons just to get back thesame functionality I had been used to (eg smarter tabbing).
Are these 85% using add-ons because the add-ons are cooler? or because firefox just isn't as flexible/powerful out of the box?
We've already added the ability to put in an idea - but it's possible that the person joining doesn't have an idea - but wants to get involved with somebody that does...
thus the "pitch" field on our form was intended to mean "either your business idea or why you think you'd be a great founder"
I personally know of very few "potential co-founders" that don't have a day-job. The only ones I know that have "plenty of time" are unemployed or students... that is a small sub-set of the available talent.
I also wanted to make sure that people that wanted to commit a larger amount could weed out people that are only able to commit to a few hours per month.
Finally - we were also thinking about the possibility of people such as lawyers/accountants joining up - who would in fact only need to commit an hour or two per month to add value. Obviously this means the site is open to much more than just equity-share/co-founder arrangements
Absolutely... but that assumes two things:
a) you're the person with the idea AND
b) you're the developer.
If you're not A or B then you need to find somebody that is...
I came up with this idea because I was A for quite a while... but I did want to get into the space. I'm good at executing, but at the time wasn't so good with coming up with ideas (you may still think that is the case ;) )
I also know that business-development and marketing are not my strongest areas of knowledge....
so I went in search of business guys who had a great, marketable idea but nobody to build it for them...
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one... though maybe I'm in the minority on this particular news site :)
Also - I'm not sure if I read it from Seth Godin or 37signals, but I do like the idea that if you can't convince at least one other person, then maybe you should reconsider the idea...
Thanks, some good points. I like the "trial projects" idea.
do you think the name infringes? Our name came from the concept of "a match-making service" - which is an idea as old as the hills...
I don't think that match.com can own the word "match" or the concept of matching people.
On LinkedIn - I can reach out through my known network... through six degrees of separation, and not knowing which contacts are the ones I need to reach out through.
This site will have one "level" of separation - and you can define who you're looking for and get them straight away.
Ordinarily I'd agree... but as another commenter pointed out, there are issues with small towns... but there's also a time-issue involved.
I created this idea because I'm a hacker, and needed to find business guys... it's taken me a year of joining every entrepreneur/networking group in London - ad I'm now starting to be confident that I know which ones to bother with and which to avoid.
I can imagine that it'd be even worse prospect for a business guy trying the other way around... which of five hundred "user groups" would a know-nothing business guy join to go find smart hackers that can get things done?
As a newbie, you'll join a lot of the wrong groups... and waste a lot of time at them. The two different crowds have an extremely small overlap... this site is intended to cut across the networks (well be going to networks on either side), and cuts through a lot of the time spent searching.
ie - first find a few people that might match your needs, then go join their network and see if you like it (kinda like the "first date")... then see where it leads from there.
Ya - that was our thought. Just like eHarmony - it doesn't marry you, just offers you some people that are more likely to be a match than the random selection at your local bar.
Hiya, matchfounders.com is my baby. It is my pitch from launch48 (launch48.com)
I'll start by saying I completely agree with you... but add that I pitched this idea only three days ago... we built it over this weekend ;)
So when we say "MVP" here... we really have only just started.
That being said - love your ideas for fields to add to the db. As should be fairly obvious, we just grabbed a small handful of random fields just for show... now it's time to start thinking about stuff that would actually be useful.
Oh, and the idea I pitched was exactly "eHarmony for founders"... that's our goal. :)
That's very true. My article was written with the service-industry in mind. That being said, the person I was talking to was also talking with the service industry in mind ;)
Still - you're quite correct that perhaps when creating "things" you may need a different appraoch - as I've never really worked in the "things" industry I can't comment. Anyone have any experience that would care to share their viewpoint?
Yep, good way of describing the difference.
Sometimes it's tough to tell the difference too - but once you have, you can move forward and get on with bringin the customer a solution that'll make you both happy :)