6 ms·

How can I find a partner for a startup?

3 points by fiftyone 16y ago

I am not a programmer I'm basically just a geek thinker. (Which is not bad everyone needs someone who can come up with ideas, I think thinkers have as much of a place as programmers in making an idea successful. ) At any time I have dozens of ideas jumping around in my head, most are nothing but occasionally I have one that I think has some real substance. I had one recently about how to transform email into the 21st century. (No it's not a Wave clone) And I think I came up with something completely unique and awesome. The problem is I need a partner. I can't create this by myself. I spoke to a developer about the idea and the cost is not the real problem. The biggest problem I face now is self doubt. I have no one to question me. No one to tell me my ideas suck or that they are awesome. No one to help me tweak a design or a feature and no one to help me expand my idea into something worth while. My question is how do I find someone to listen to my ideas (take them and me seriously) and possibly join me in the pursuit of the geek dream? Ps. AbuAyyoub@gmx.com if anyone is interested :D

alnayyir 16y ago
I don't need an idea person, I need a designer who sleeps with the CSS3 standard next to their pillow for most of my projects. Could you share with those looking at this post what you can offer other than this idea?
- fiftyone 16y ago
  Well, I think that the idea is the most important part of any project. If your ideas suck then your product will suck as well. Any monkey can bang out code, if there is not a good idea behind it then it's just a bunch of useless text on a screen. A person has to have a vision. I am not a programmer, It's not my trade, however, I don't think that you have to sleep with CSS3 book in order to have a revolutionary idea. Not to mention I am not asking anyone for anything, and I am not offering anyone anything. Outsourcing is cheap these days so finding a person to build it is not a problem for me; the problem is I doubt myself and I doubt my ideas. I think I have an awesome idea, yet I don't completely trust my own judgement enough to sink my life savings into. Which is why I need a partner. That is all I was getting at. I am not looking to throw an idea at someone and say "Build it while I sit on the couch and throw out ideas like our friend above suggested."
  - alnayyir 16y ago
    >Well, I think that the idea is the most important part of any project. You haven't been here long, I take it. Generally speaking, anyone with any measurable experience in startups and business will tell you that execution is what counts. >If your ideas suck then your product will suck as well. YC doesn't even care much about the idea when they're vetting startups, they care more about the individual character of the cofounders and the work ethic embodied in the state of the current project. Team cohesion > idea. You can always pivot, which many YC startups have done. >Any monkey can bang out code That rather mistaken idea has earned me a great deal of money. I've taken quite the schadenfreude out of charging businesses money for cleaning up/redoing the utter horrors that the outsourced indian teams produce. If you really believe this, put your money where your mouth is and hire a remote team from Mumbai. I'll be happy to throw you a rag for your tears of blood when you come back in here screaming for a real professional. >I am not a programmer, It's not my trade That was implicit in your insulting the entire field that most of the people on this site have dedicated their lives too. An excellent start towards finding someone willing to work on your ego^H^H^H idea. >however, I don't think that you have to sleep with CSS3 book The point is passion. >I am not offering anyone anything That became clear already. >Outsourcing is cheap...a person to build...not a problem Cf. bloody tears, schmucks like you making messes for me to charge top-dollar to clean up, etc. >yet I don't completely trust my own judgement enough to sink my life savings into. So you're faithless, talentless, lazy, unwilling to put your money down, but willing to waste someone else's time? Charming. >I am not looking to throw an idea at someone and say "Build it while I sit on the couch and throw out ideas like our friend above suggested." That's exactly the meaning your every sentence and clause has built towards. Good luck, I'll have a good chuckle when you make another account and try to slither past this critique instead of trying to grok or absorb it.
    - fiftyone 16y ago
      So what you're saying is basically anyone who is not a programmer is a lazy idiot and has no place in this world Wow, I understand now why you sleep with a book, because no human being in their right mind would ever do so without the use of force.
niyazpk 16y ago
Start posting some of your ideas to your blog and if they are good enough and interesting, people will find you. Also remember that just being an idea person may be synonym to being lazy. The same way ideas are worth nothing without good execution, idea people are worth next to nothing for most startups. Startups run on tight schedules and insane amount of dedication and hard work. The idea of one founder sitting in the couch and sprouting out ideas may not resonate well with the technical people you are looking for.
- fiftyone 16y ago
  I am not a programmer by trade. This does not make me lazy, it makes me a school teacher, and a geek with an idea. Nothing more nothing less. And I never said I was looking for technical people there are half a billion Indians I can hire to build something for me. It's a partner in crime I seek young Padawan not a programmer. I honestly don't even care if the person can program "hello world" as long as I have someone to work with me to implement my ideas and to make them better. I suppose I could go to school for another 4 years and try and learn how to program but I really have no desire to learn programming, nor do I have the time. But that far from makes me lazy.
plinkplonk 16y ago
Fellow HN-ers. Please don't feed the troll. Just flag.
- alnayyir 16y ago
  Sorry, attempt at pedagogy. I'll suppress it next time.
  - fiftyone 16y ago
    I think he was referring to you. I came in her and politely asked a question you called me a lazy good-for-nothing because my degree is different than yours.
- fiftyone 16y ago
  I came in here to ask a simple question, was attacked and insulted and now I'm being called a troll. Amazing. You people really need to get out more.
kls 16y ago
A little info on the poster: http://www.wikisposure.com/Onemilligram http://www.wikisposure.com/Onemilligram http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/american_in_egy.html http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/american_in_egy.... http://www.red-alerts.com/filthy-degenerates/american-al-qaeda-member-outed-as-active-online-pedophile/ http://www.red-alerts.com/filthy-degenerates/american-al-qae...

kls 16y ago

You are so far down the path of fruitlessness already and you do not even see it. Any monkey can bang out code You have already failed. True anyone can write some bug riddled piece of dog snot. But programming and development is a creative endeavor. AKA an art. Jut as my kid can knock out a stick figure in art class, it does not make his work a Rembrandt. Sure it's art and "anyone can bang out art" but when I go and try to sell my child's art as a masterpiece, well we both know what the revenues are going to look like. You already have a respect for the profession that is going to put you at odds with the kind of people that you would need, to get you anywhere further than a failed project. These people don't need you or your idea. They are creative they have plenty of their own projects and they respect their craft and only work with others that respect their craft. As for the idea thing, it is worthless absolutely worthless, you need to understand that first and foremost. Great ideas fail in the market place for all kinds of reasons, it does not guarantee success. So you have to ask yourself what I am going to contribute and you need to be able to communicate that to a perspective partner. You need to be able to say, hey I have this great idea for a product. I can't write code, but I am great at sales and marketing or accounting or business development or X. Or you need to be able to say, actually I can't do anything but I am going to bankroll the whole thing. Those are valid but if all you have is an idea and you want someone else to put in the sweat to bring your idea to life while you sit back and come up with ideas, well then you are SOL.

fiftyone 16y ago
Sorry, but in the real world no one cares how beautiful your code is. Do you think any one of the 500,000,000 facebook users cares how beautiful the code is? I don't think so. So, coming back the the real world I have an idea for a BUSINESS, not a piece of art.
- kls 16y ago
  Good luck to you sir.
  - fiftyone 16y ago
    Please help me to understand what makes you think I came in here to beg for a programmer?
    - RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
      Hi ... > Please help me to understand what makes you think > I came in here to beg for a programmer? Sure - these bits: > I am not a programmer ... > ... I have dozens of ideas jumping around in my head, > ... The problem is I need a partner. > I can't create this by myself. That sounds like you need someone to program. Just saying.
      - fiftyone 16y ago
        Partner is not synonymous with "Programmer". At least not in English not sure where you come from. Learn to read and stop being an asshole.
        RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
        Hi again, You asked what it was that you had said that made people think you wanted a programmer, and I answered. I agree with you entirely that "partner" is not synonymous with "programmer", but the context of your writing gave that impression. From other comments it seems clear that I wasn't the only one who thought you must have meant "partner who is a programmer." You keep telling people to "learn to read," but multiple people have come to the same conclusions as each other which were clearly not the conclusions you intended. Maybe, then, it's not their fault. Perhaps you should learn how to write so as to be misunderstood less often. It's not easy, I know, but it might repay your efforts. So whatever your fantastic idea might be, good luck with finding a partner, programming or otherwise, to discuss it. I have to say that your comments here make me believe in unlikely you'll have a productive exchange, but I've been wrong before.