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>I find it strange to not just use your personal network to find somebody. Your sentiment is similar to the top-voted comment in a previous thread about this.[

by jasode 7y ago

>I find it strange to not just use your personal network to find somebody. Your sentiment is similar to the top-voted comment in a previous thread about this.[0] It seems insane and uncomfortable because we're using labels for people like "random stranger". But it's a paradox: before people become friends, they're strangers to each other. So how did they ever become friends?!? Before someone was in your personal network, they were previously _not_ in your personal network? So how did that status change?!? By meeting new people and seeing what type of interactions happen. There are no guarantees in life. All we can do is try to meet new people. Not everybody has a "cofounder" already existing in their personal network. (E.g. didn't go to same school at Stanford and not a coworker at a company job.) In that case, they have to grow their personal network with like-minded people who might be a cofounder. The "alternative" of starting a solo business may be less realistic and higher risk of failure than trying to find a cofounder that shares the same goals. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20266463 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20266463

opportune 7y ago
Random stranger may be a label but it’s also an accurate description. I guess to me, it seems strange for someone, especially in tech in the Bay Area, to want to be a founder but have nobody in their personal network that they would like to work with also interested in being a founder who reciprocated that feeling. That is wildly different from what my social circle looks like, and I didn’t go to Stanford. In fact it’s so different that I would characterize it as somewhat of a red flag (very weak personal network? hard to work with, not likable? lazy? little tech exp?); of course, two people in similar situations probably wouldn’t see it that way and that’s fine, I’m just sharing my perspective. I don’t see why starting a solo business is unrealistic unless you lack some core competency in the business you are trying to start. In that case, yes you would need to start a different business. If you have a poor network, have a hard time finding a cofounder, and also have a hard time finding something within your core competency then you should probably be re-evaluating why you’re starting a business at all
- jasode 7y ago
  >Random stranger may be a label but it’s also an accurate description. Right, and I'm not debating its accuracy; I'm saying that somehow the status changes from "random stranger" to "acquaintance/friend/partner". However, one sometimes has to go out and make an effort (meeting new people) to allow those changes of relationships to happen. >, to want to be a founder but have nobody in their personal network that they would like to work with also interested in being a founder who reciprocated that feeling. [...] I would characterize it as somewhat of a red flag Again, you calling it a "red flag" is fair. But the key is can someone attempt to change that red flag? E.g. the author of this article Gloria Lin went on "cofounder dates" to overcome that instead of just looking at her personal network as a static list of people and just give up. >I don’t see why starting a solo business is unrealistic unless you lack some core competency in the business you are trying to start. I'll take myself as an example... I hypothetically could start a solo business but none of them I can do are interesting to me and therefore I'd fail due to losing motivation. I want to start a B2C business and the one I have in mind is complex enough that it requires a very strong partner (and possibly even 3 cofounders). Most everybody in my personal network is risk-averse and not the folks I'd ask to quit their jobs for an uncertain future. But the limitations of my personal network doesn't squash my desire to build a B2C business. Drew Houston didn't go on a cofounder matchmaking website but it took a friend-of-a-friend to find his cofounder (Arash Ferdowsi) for DropBox.[1] But yes, you still have to cautious because the business relationship can fall apart -- even among coworkers that supposedly knew each other for years before starting a company. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44766487 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44766487
- danenania 7y ago
  "I guess to me, it seems strange for someone, especially in tech in the Bay Area, to want to be a founder but have nobody in their personal network that they would like to work with also interested in being a founder who reciprocated that feeling." I think it depends a lot on how you got your experience in tech. If you got your stripes via a CS degree and several years at an established company or two in a tech hotspot, then yes it's perhaps kind of strange if through all of that you never developed a network with any potential co-founders in it. Developing a network is one of the primary benefits of taking this path. But if instead you were self-taught and became an expert through contracting and/or doing your own projects, you could easily not have a network with many potential co-founders in it despite being great at what you do. This can also be the case in spite of having an otherwise strong personal network--you might know tons of interesting and accomplished people who have absolutely zero interest in startups.

by jasode 7y ago

opportune 7y ago

Random stranger may be a label but it’s also an accurate description. I guess to me, it seems strange for someone, especially in tech in the Bay Area, to want to be a founder but have nobody in their personal network that they would like to work with also interested in being a founder who reciprocated that feeling. That is wildly different from what my social circle looks like, and I didn’t go to Stanford. In fact it’s so different that I would characterize it as somewhat of a red flag (very weak personal network? hard to work with, not likable? lazy? little tech exp?); of course, two people in similar situations probably wouldn’t see it that way and that’s fine, I’m just sharing my perspective. I don’t see why starting a solo business is unrealistic unless you lack some core competency in the business you are trying to start. In that case, yes you would need to start a different business. If you have a poor network, have a hard time finding a cofounder, and also have a hard time finding something within your core competency then you should probably be re-evaluating why you’re starting a business at all

jasode 7y ago
>Random stranger may be a label but it’s also an accurate description. Right, and I'm not debating its accuracy; I'm saying that somehow the status changes from "random stranger" to "acquaintance/friend/partner". However, one sometimes has to go out and make an effort (meeting new people) to allow those changes of relationships to happen. >, to want to be a founder but have nobody in their personal network that they would like to work with also interested in being a founder who reciprocated that feeling. [...] I would characterize it as somewhat of a red flag Again, you calling it a "red flag" is fair. But the key is can someone attempt to change that red flag? E.g. the author of this article Gloria Lin went on "cofounder dates" to overcome that instead of just looking at her personal network as a static list of people and just give up. >I don’t see why starting a solo business is unrealistic unless you lack some core competency in the business you are trying to start. I'll take myself as an example... I hypothetically could start a solo business but none of them I can do are interesting to me and therefore I'd fail due to losing motivation. I want to start a B2C business and the one I have in mind is complex enough that it requires a very strong partner (and possibly even 3 cofounders). Most everybody in my personal network is risk-averse and not the folks I'd ask to quit their jobs for an uncertain future. But the limitations of my personal network doesn't squash my desire to build a B2C business. Drew Houston didn't go on a cofounder matchmaking website but it took a friend-of-a-friend to find his cofounder (Arash Ferdowsi) for DropBox.[1] But yes, you still have to cautious because the business relationship can fall apart -- even among coworkers that supposedly knew each other for years before starting a company. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44766487 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44766487
danenania 7y ago
"I guess to me, it seems strange for someone, especially in tech in the Bay Area, to want to be a founder but have nobody in their personal network that they would like to work with also interested in being a founder who reciprocated that feeling." I think it depends a lot on how you got your experience in tech. If you got your stripes via a CS degree and several years at an established company or two in a tech hotspot, then yes it's perhaps kind of strange if through all of that you never developed a network with any potential co-founders in it. Developing a network is one of the primary benefits of taking this path. But if instead you were self-taught and became an expert through contracting and/or doing your own projects, you could easily not have a network with many potential co-founders in it despite being great at what you do. This can also be the case in spite of having an otherwise strong personal network--you might know tons of interesting and accomplished people who have absolutely zero interest in startups.