How to Meet Your Next Cofounder(tom.preston-werner.com)
tom.preston-werner.com
How to Meet Your Next Cofounder
http://tom.preston-werner.com/2008/11/03/how-to-meet-your-next-cofounder.html
8 comments
"The second biggest danger with going solo is the loss of motivation."
I agree with this... however, there are ways to get motivation other than adding a co-founder.
For example, I find that living in my parents' basement and having them ask me every few weeks when I'm going to start making money is very good motivation. :-)
I agree with this... however, there are ways to get motivation other than adding a co-founder.
For example, I find that living in my parents' basement and having them ask me every few weeks when I'm going to start making money is very good motivation. :-)
Good point, but your parents will never say to you "we need to drop certain functionality to improve the core framework in order to secure a stable release" or "private static long MAGIC_NUMBER = 1024*1024; ?!?! you crazy man!! what the hell does this do?"
I personally find it easier to work on a project when I have somebody to look things over with. It's very easy to get side tracked when you work on things by yourself, well thats what I find for myself any way.
I personally find it easier to work on a project when I have somebody to look things over with. It's very easy to get side tracked when you work on things by yourself, well thats what I find for myself any way.
...better still, they should give you a deadline upon which they will throw you out (in a nice way, of course) or charge rent :-)
For most people (atleast that I have observed), becoming independent really focused them and helped raise thier game and productivity^.
Nothing is as motivating as neccessity?
^n.b. not applicable to Putnam winners ;-)
For most people (atleast that I have observed), becoming independent really focused them and helped raise thier game and productivity^.
Nothing is as motivating as neccessity?
^n.b. not applicable to Putnam winners ;-)
Being a Putnam winner doesn't automatically mean you're productive, just that you're damn smart ;-)
I think you're more right here than you realize.
The Putnam competition, in spite of being six hours long, is severely time limited: Each year, there are probably hundreds of people who could solve all 12 questions if only they had enough time, but only six people who manage to answer more than 8 or 9 questions within the time limit.
If you're going to solve Putnam questions in an average of 30 minutes or less (including carefully writing out the solutions) the only way to do it is by having flashes of insight. Working hard doesn't help, because there isn't enough time to work hard. Putnam winners are people who successfully apply Feynman's algorithm for problem solving: 1. Write down the problem. 2. Think hard. 3. Write down the answer. (Feynman, incidentally, was one of the first Putnam fellows.)
For a competition which is theoretically about mathematics, a shockingly large number of Putnam Fellows end up moving to a different field. I think this is the reason why: Mathematics is a very old field, where it's very hard to do anything without working hard. Putnam fellows by their nature tend to seek the instant gratification of finding simple and beautiful solutions to problems -- and so we're drawn away from mathematics and into more immature fields like computing.
Yes, Putnam fellows are smart -- but we're no more disposed towards hard work than anyone else.
The Putnam competition, in spite of being six hours long, is severely time limited: Each year, there are probably hundreds of people who could solve all 12 questions if only they had enough time, but only six people who manage to answer more than 8 or 9 questions within the time limit.
If you're going to solve Putnam questions in an average of 30 minutes or less (including carefully writing out the solutions) the only way to do it is by having flashes of insight. Working hard doesn't help, because there isn't enough time to work hard. Putnam winners are people who successfully apply Feynman's algorithm for problem solving: 1. Write down the problem. 2. Think hard. 3. Write down the answer. (Feynman, incidentally, was one of the first Putnam fellows.)
For a competition which is theoretically about mathematics, a shockingly large number of Putnam Fellows end up moving to a different field. I think this is the reason why: Mathematics is a very old field, where it's very hard to do anything without working hard. Putnam fellows by their nature tend to seek the instant gratification of finding simple and beautiful solutions to problems -- and so we're drawn away from mathematics and into more immature fields like computing.
Yes, Putnam fellows are smart -- but we're no more disposed towards hard work than anyone else.
...but you will have needed to focus and raise your game to get one?
[deleted]
This is great advice. I go to as many local startup meetings as I can. Besides being a great place to meet people, they're almost universally a lot of fun.
What if you're not looking for a technical co-founder? If I could find someone who (a) had a good idea of the Real Estate Technology landscape and (b) has relationships with local Brokers, I would drop everything and start my "next big thing" tomorrow.
"if only", "maybe i could", "well i would but"...
I'm being honest. While I'm hoping to meet anyone that resembles a co-founder for that idea, I'm already working to build a business in a different industry. I'm not waiting for "just the right time", I just have some ideas in my mental queue that necessitate competent industry partners, and some that don't.
teej: Could you please send me an email?
s t e v e s m i t h 1 5 5 @ g m a i l . c o m
s t e v e s m i t h 1 5 5 @ g m a i l . c o m
I found my cofounder when he tried to hire me. :-)
I was looking for someone interested / with background in both "social entrepreneurship" (/nonprofits) and "consumer internet startups", which isn't exactly a huge intersection... I ended up finding a match through younoodle.com (it's a "social network for startup types", as far as I can tell). Still looking though...
It'd be great if there were a better way to find people with X set of skills and Y set of passions.
It'd be great if there were a better way to find people with X set of skills and Y set of passions.
I met my cofounder at a Startup Weekend event here in Atlanta.
Yes, a way to find a co-founder that doesn't involve university.
>IS< stealth-mode really bullshit?
no one has convinced me yet :(
no one has convinced me yet :(
I think stealth mode is (99% of the time) bullshit. I think most of the time you should talk about your product to anyone who will listen. Here are a few things you can't easily get in stealth mode:
- A partner/co-founder: The idea makes all the difference for people who might consider diving in with you. Potential partners don't have time to meet with all the stealth-monkies to sign their NDA and hear about their (usually uninteresting to them) idea.
- A customer: In stealth mode, you'll never meet anyone who will say, "Holy crap that's cool. Can I sign up to be a pilot customer?"
- Wisdom about how to talk about your product: Every time you pitch your product to ANYONE, you get better at knowing what people want, how to talk about it, and where they get confused.
- A random referral: In stealth mode, you'll never hear "Oh! You know who'd be the perfect co-founder/investor/employee/pilot customer for you?!"
- A great idea that makes your idea BETTER. Of course, a lot of stealth moders have serious idea-hubris, so they probably couldn't imagine their idea getting any better.
- An investor. No investor will sign an NDA. Most would punt you if you even asked.
- SEO benefit. Backlinks and site age both effect rankings. Start building now.
On the other side of the coin, would your competition REALLY change their execution if they knew you existed? "Oh no! Two guys armed with Ruby on Rails! We're DOOOOMED!"
- A partner/co-founder: The idea makes all the difference for people who might consider diving in with you. Potential partners don't have time to meet with all the stealth-monkies to sign their NDA and hear about their (usually uninteresting to them) idea.
- A customer: In stealth mode, you'll never meet anyone who will say, "Holy crap that's cool. Can I sign up to be a pilot customer?"
- Wisdom about how to talk about your product: Every time you pitch your product to ANYONE, you get better at knowing what people want, how to talk about it, and where they get confused.
- A random referral: In stealth mode, you'll never hear "Oh! You know who'd be the perfect co-founder/investor/employee/pilot customer for you?!"
- A great idea that makes your idea BETTER. Of course, a lot of stealth moders have serious idea-hubris, so they probably couldn't imagine their idea getting any better.
- An investor. No investor will sign an NDA. Most would punt you if you even asked.
- SEO benefit. Backlinks and site age both effect rankings. Start building now.
On the other side of the coin, would your competition REALLY change their execution if they knew you existed? "Oh no! Two guys armed with Ruby on Rails! We're DOOOOMED!"
My experience, while obviously not universally true, is that "release early, release often" is critical to web applications.
One big mistake we made at Powerset was to keep everything secret and fuel the hype machine. I think that in the end this was harmful to the company image. It would have been better to get the tool out in front of people, show them what we could do, and let them see the progress. That way you can get people behind you, cheering you on, instead of having them get bored with all the unproven claims you keep making.
Ideas are cheap. Implementations are what make or break a business.
One big mistake we made at Powerset was to keep everything secret and fuel the hype machine. I think that in the end this was harmful to the company image. It would have been better to get the tool out in front of people, show them what we could do, and let them see the progress. That way you can get people behind you, cheering you on, instead of having them get bored with all the unproven claims you keep making.
Ideas are cheap. Implementations are what make or break a business.
so stealth mode until you have a product? or don't stealthmode at all, just come out and say "we're building THIS, get ready for the storm" ?
heh, i'm just afraid of saying we're going to build something, then having to say "woops, we changed our minds, building this other thing makes more sense to us, sorry about that thing before..."
heh, i'm just afraid of saying we're going to build something, then having to say "woops, we changed our minds, building this other thing makes more sense to us, sorry about that thing before..."
You'll do that anyway, over and over. Especially if this is your first startup. In my experience (definitely including myself) most first time founders couldn't recognize a market if it hit them over the head in the early phase. The process of pitching your idea helps target what you're doing.
This doesn't change just because you've launched and everyone who's seen a little of the startup world knows to expect this.
This doesn't change just because you've launched and everyone who's seen a little of the startup world knows to expect this.
Something I've noticed: I'm pretty good at telling other people where their product sucks, how they've completely missed the point, and how to do their job better. And yet I haven't yet been able to parlay that into a kickass product of my own.
If I reverse that finding and assume that I'm not particularly smart or special (usually a pretty good assumption), it follows that other people can do a pretty good job telling you where you're screwing up, how you've completely missed the point, and how you ought to do your job. And you're actually in a position to do something about it. And it's unlikely that they're in a position to do something about it. Hell, if they have more ego than self-interest (as most people do), you might even get this advice for free.
If I reverse that finding and assume that I'm not particularly smart or special (usually a pretty good assumption), it follows that other people can do a pretty good job telling you where you're screwing up, how you've completely missed the point, and how you ought to do your job. And you're actually in a position to do something about it. And it's unlikely that they're in a position to do something about it. Hell, if they have more ego than self-interest (as most people do), you might even get this advice for free.
Definitely. It's painful thinking back on the first times I was pitching our stuff and how irrelevant the stuff I was saying was. Even now, 9 months in I struggle to make myself focus. Constantly pitching and having people rip what I'm saying apart is the only reason I'm not completely retarded about it.
I have exactly the same thoughts but also think stealth-mode is bullshit.
Having just started on my first tech startup about a month ago, I am trying to go for the "be open and honest about everything" meets "release early, release often" approach on the basis that if the idea is crap, I would rather hear about it earlier and fail quickly (so I can change direction or reset and move on with the next idea).
I am also going with a hardware-based product and am still building the site (what you will see was put together yesterday afternoon as a quick draft as we work through the "presenting the idea" stage of things and refine and streamline the concept), which is very likely to change over the next month which is also a reason I haven't done a "Ask HN: Is my startup crap?" post.
"we're building this http://www.httbox.com, get ready for the storm^"
^hopefully.
Having just started on my first tech startup about a month ago, I am trying to go for the "be open and honest about everything" meets "release early, release often" approach on the basis that if the idea is crap, I would rather hear about it earlier and fail quickly (so I can change direction or reset and move on with the next idea).
I am also going with a hardware-based product and am still building the site (what you will see was put together yesterday afternoon as a quick draft as we work through the "presenting the idea" stage of things and refine and streamline the concept), which is very likely to change over the next month which is also a reason I haven't done a "Ask HN: Is my startup crap?" post.
"we're building this http://www.httbox.com, get ready for the storm^"
^hopefully.
I've been in this industry for many years.. there are a bunch of people throwing software onto a hushpc. They come and go every year.
The consumer marketplace for infrastructure hardware is fickle indeed.. the customers who could actually hook everything up with your box often fall into the 'experimenter' market.. they are putting their own boxes together.
The 'enthusiast' market for these devices is pretty good, but often it's like the 'audiophile' market in the 80's. No matter what you sell, it's never good enough. So even though they are willing to pay a premium, it only takes a couple of them with a ground hum problem to eat up all of your profits in technical support.
The 'rich guy' market is tough to access. They are happy with the DVR from their cable company.
But whatever market you get into you need fat margins on the hardware to have a chance of making it.
The consumer marketplace for infrastructure hardware is fickle indeed.. the customers who could actually hook everything up with your box often fall into the 'experimenter' market.. they are putting their own boxes together.
The 'enthusiast' market for these devices is pretty good, but often it's like the 'audiophile' market in the 80's. No matter what you sell, it's never good enough. So even though they are willing to pay a premium, it only takes a couple of them with a ground hum problem to eat up all of your profits in technical support.
The 'rich guy' market is tough to access. They are happy with the DVR from their cable company.
But whatever market you get into you need fat margins on the hardware to have a chance of making it.
Thanks. Its still early days yet (<1mth). I am having a go at building one device that can access digital, terrestrial, satellite, and iPTV from one device, with a simple interface and full recording fetures.
I expect to fail (being such a crowded market with big players with deep pockets) ;) but am interested to see how far I can go. It also has a few other features akin to what picwing is doing but for video. Especially nice is the "virtual living room" function that allows no-fuss video conferencing while sharing a video/home-movie.
The forums/feedback sections will be up on the weekend, so I'd really welcome any thoughts insights you may have.
Thanks :)
I expect to fail (being such a crowded market with big players with deep pockets) ;) but am interested to see how far I can go. It also has a few other features akin to what picwing is doing but for video. Especially nice is the "virtual living room" function that allows no-fuss video conferencing while sharing a video/home-movie.
The forums/feedback sections will be up on the weekend, so I'd really welcome any thoughts insights you may have.
Thanks :)
You know, you are entering a market with your box that is very crowded with similar products. My thesis document is something, that if combined with your product, would change your product from something nice to something that will blow minds. Intruiged? Watch my twitter account and wait for when I post the pictures (it's hardware).
Yes, but building it with "be your own customer and everything" in mind, and have yet to see a single device that can recieve and record multi HD streams inc Sky (which in the UK can only be received with thier Sky box, and does not allow recording of programs) etc. etc. all integrated together.
There are many other features not mentioned on the site (yet), the most interesting being the accelerometer remote control for more natural control (akin to Nintendo Wii control). Plus this box is very quiet (no fans, passively cooled via heatpipe to the side fins).
Anyway, your website is down, twitter account rarely updated, so if you are doing something interesting, feel free to email me :-)
There are many other features not mentioned on the site (yet), the most interesting being the accelerometer remote control for more natural control (akin to Nintendo Wii control). Plus this box is very quiet (no fans, passively cooled via heatpipe to the side fins).
Anyway, your website is down, twitter account rarely updated, so if you are doing something interesting, feel free to email me :-)
Oh, what I'm doing is something you're not even thinking of ;) I don't want to describe the project till I have a prototype up, but when I do, I'll make a youtube video. All I'll do is drop hints about how explosive this will be :)
Yeah, we tried it, it is. Here are a few reasons:
- If you're a hacker, you probably didn't start with market research, you probably started with code, and you already have competition that you just weren't diligent enough to find. Or the other standard view -- you don't think you're actually competing with the market leaders, because your head is stuck too far in the concept. But you are and everyone else will see that.
- Unless you're funded prior to launching, or have a team with an impressive (startup) track record, nobody in the press cares about your launch. We got picked up in a couple of German (where we're based) news sites which didn't bring in nearly as many hits as posts here or in my personal (fairly widely syndicated) blog.
- Most people when they hear your idea will think that it's dumb. This is universal. Practicing making it sound not dumb is much more important than worrying about people copying your (dumb-sounding) idea. Learning to pitch your idea takes a while.
If you've already been funded and developing for a couple years before launch, yeah, then you can make a bit of a splash when you launch. Incidentally -- great parent article. Spot-on with my thoughts on finding co-founders.
- If you're a hacker, you probably didn't start with market research, you probably started with code, and you already have competition that you just weren't diligent enough to find. Or the other standard view -- you don't think you're actually competing with the market leaders, because your head is stuck too far in the concept. But you are and everyone else will see that.
- Unless you're funded prior to launching, or have a team with an impressive (startup) track record, nobody in the press cares about your launch. We got picked up in a couple of German (where we're based) news sites which didn't bring in nearly as many hits as posts here or in my personal (fairly widely syndicated) blog.
- Most people when they hear your idea will think that it's dumb. This is universal. Practicing making it sound not dumb is much more important than worrying about people copying your (dumb-sounding) idea. Learning to pitch your idea takes a while.
If you've already been funded and developing for a couple years before launch, yeah, then you can make a bit of a splash when you launch. Incidentally -- great parent article. Spot-on with my thoughts on finding co-founders.
yes, its BS.
i go to the hackers+founders meetup in sunnyvale and we bounce ideas of one another. its a real conversational killer if someone wont talk about what their doing.
I found this to be true, a few weeks a go I mentioned my idea to an old friend of mine and he was sold.
I have found a cofonder and now things are back on track. I was lucky, the guy I'm now working with is my best friend from grad school. So I already knew I wouldn't have a problem with him.
I do think that having somebody else working with you makes a huge impact. Not only on the product itself but also on your mentality.