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Ask HN: Where to meet non-technical cofounders?

• onovive 6y ago
  here there might be one
• lsoenke 6y ago
  1. I don't think finding a qualified "business" person will be excessively difficult. From my experience, there is an under-supply of engineers and an over-supply of business people wanting to found. Thus, if you are an engineer from a FAANG company, there should be large demand for your skillset by business people looking to found. That being said, the main ways to find non-technical co-founders is via network (your FAANG friends are bound to know someone, ask them for an introduction) and events. Also, don't be afraid to cold reachout to someone who might be interesting. 2. Be sure you want a "business" person in your founding team. Many great companies made it without one. If you need very deep domain knowledge then yes, it can be beneficial to have such a person. However, that being said, if you don't have knowledge in that domain you should also not really be looking to found in that domain. However, that is besides the point. Many "business" skills like sales, marketing and fundraising can be learned to a good enough standard by most technical cofounders. I have always has bad experience taking on non-techincal co-founders to handle the "business" part. Just to make this clear, I do not think "business" co-founders are useless. There are a lot of very good ones that bring a lot of value. All I am saying is that I have made bad experiences taking in "business" people to handle the "business" part of the startup. Most of the time you can (and should) learn the necessary skills yourself. Every startup needs technical co-founders, however most startups don't NEED non-technical co-founders.
  • hazz99 6y ago
    I think there is a huge difference between the “business” taught at university and the “business” skills you need to launch a new venture. In my experience, formal education tends to be very corporate-operations focused because that’s where most grads go. Most courses presuppose that the company has already found product-market fit - using these same behaviours in a new venture context could be dangerous. Ideally, you’d find someone who recognises this difference and works to learn the differences between the environments, and brings the best of both worlds to the venture.
• vinnyi 6y ago
  It's nice when you have friends that have the same goals/aspirations. For the rest of us, I suspect the best you can do is to put a lot of effort into searching for someone compatible via a combination of cold outreach, friends of friends, etc. -- being as vocal as possible. (On the other hand, don't let it be your excuse for why something isn't taking off.) I would take my products, show them to as many people as possible, and find out who is interested. While engaging with those people, explain to them your situation and that you're looking for some help. Try to leverage your potential users' networks. (Just my 2 cents.) All that aside -- I'd be interested in chatting about what you're working on and seeing if we might collaborate in the future. Feel free to reach out: vcinv10@gmail.com
• boltzmannbrain 6y ago
  https://www.joinef.com https://www.joinef.com
  • hmexx 6y ago
    ^ an alternative: www.antler.co
  • ultimoo 6y ago
    Interesting, I wonder why they don't have a US presence.
• zbruhnke 6y ago
  Honestly my advice would be to leave FAANG and join an early stage startup ... you're much more likely to meet a wider array of people with similar passions and interests and varied skillsets. Even if that startup itself fails you are likely to meet people you could start another company with and if it succeeds it will be an even better place to start a company from when leaving, most exceptional founders love to support their employees leaving to start something new.
  • ditonal 6y ago
    Respectfully this is awful advice, as someone who’s worked at FAANG and early stage startups. The idea that working for early stage startups will help you start your own is a myth propagated intentionally by founders/VCs to recruit SWEs with lowball offers. FAANG is actually way better to meet cofounders. At Google you can have lunch with a talented person every day (there’s internal apps to network like this), plus countless other opportunities to network both formally and informally. In contrast, at an early stage startup you’ll mostly work with the same people every day and your network will stagnate. Furthermore, early stage startups tend to have a ton of work that needs to be done that they hire there engineers to do. Unless you get CTO title, you’re probably not going to get exposed much to the BD side or get investor access. Finally, being able to work full time on your startup to get demo ready to pitch is super helpful. A nest egg from FAANG RSUs is key here, startup ISOs are probably worth nothing and will reduce your cushioning. If you want to do a startup, go to networking events, apply to YC, etc but leaving FAANG to be an early stage employee w goal, not closer, especially if you don’t at least get CTO title.
    • jameshush 6y ago
      I have to agree with ditonal. Going from a FAANG company to a startup for anything less than a CTO role is a bad idea. I know this because I did this. While it all worked out in the end (I wanted to move to Los Angeles to do heavy metal stuff with my heavy metal friends anyway) there's definitely a hard ceiling at a startup. Stay at the cushy high paying job and network on nights and weekends. Even better, make a point to ask a person out to lunch every week at the FAANG job once the pandemic is over. "Networking" for me has just been hanging out with my music and YouTuber buddies. Turns out if you know how to SPELL PHP or HTML you can provide HUGE value to non-technical friends. Doing something as simple as fixing a typo in some JavaScript tracking code for friend's websites makes me look like I've shown them fire for the first time. Find a hobby you like that's non-technical (for me it's learning Chinese, salsa dancing, and metal), show up, have a good time, and within a year or two you'll have a high quality network of non-technical partners.
• mstipetic 6y ago
  I went through joinef.com - a startup incubator which focuses on individuals joining in and finding cofounders there
• deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
• cvaidya1986 6y ago
  Foundersnetwork.com has a few. If you need an invite let me know.
  • NHQ 6y ago
    I tried to submit my email and got an access denied security warning, no explanation.
    • cvaidya1986 6y ago
      Do you have a website with your portfolio
      • cmuguythrow 6y ago
        Not OP, but I am interested in this community and I am also getting an error when I try to sign up: Access Denied foundersnetwork.com is using a security service for protection against online attacks. An action has triggered the service and blocked your request. Please try again in a few minutes. If the issue persist, please contact the site owner for further assistance. I have a personal website but am not comfortable sharing here - is there a way to message you?
        • kholmes79 6y ago
          hey there, writing from FN. Would you be willing to share the reference ID on the WAF blocked access page so we can troubleshoot your issue? You can email it to support(at)foundersnetwork(dot)com.
    • kholmes79 6y ago
      hey there, writing from FN. Would you be willing to share the reference ID on the WAF blocked access page so we can troubleshoot your issue? You can email it to support(at)foundersnetwork(dot)com.
• yumraj 6y ago
  There are numerous ways to approach the problem you're facing, but first of all it'd be good to understand the core problem you're running into. Unfortunately, without too many details this is all going to be a little abstract. Based on the detail you've provided, it seems one problem you're facing is access to industry domain experts who can both validate what you're doing and also perhaps help you refine the product and market access. If that is correct, I'd suggest that you don't, at this point, look for a non-technical co-founder but rather just approach people with domain expertise in the industry that you're trying to target for advice and validation by requesting a short conversation. LinkedIn can be a very good source and depending on how you approach the people and your own profile you may get a very good response from people. Anywhere above 20-30% response rate would be very good just to set expectations, it can be higher or lower but don't be disheartened. Depending on the domain you're targeting there is a much much larger pool of people who will offer you initial advice than who will be willing to join as co-founder. Once you get connected and they accept, just talk to these people. Get input, and also ask for further connections, as in is there someone you should be speaking to that they can introduce you to. Use them in future when you're looking to make a sale or for early adoption and again, for advice. This will kick start your journey and you will find people. If you find someone truly awesome and nice, who is also interested in what you're doing, you can ask them to be an advisor. If you find someone who is interested in joining, then perhaps have them join. But be careful, and make diligent decision before having people join the team.
  • aumakua 6y ago
    Hey, thanks for the very thoughtful response. I realize now that my initial post may have implied otherwise, but I'm mostly looking to start establishing relationships that may lead to entrepreneurial collaboration in the future. I'm definitely not looking to jump straight into anything at the moment – it's not like there's a particular idea I'm in love with, and I'm naturally a very cautious person so I'd like to take the time to get to know people before starting a project with them. My concern is moreso that it takes a lot of time and effort to build trust, and so I'd like to start meeting such people sooner rather than later.
    • 6y ago
• mrkn1 6y ago
  I'd love to connect and collaborate, or point you to contacts who could collaborate with you. Please ping me at support@plumebio.com
• rvn1045 6y ago
  You can learn a lot of these things yourself and if your into bootstrapping you can do it solo for a long time. It’ll be more work and take longer for sure. I would suggest getting on twitter and communities like indie hackers. People share how they’re getting users, they’re first customers, marketing tactics etc As you consume more of this information and hack on your own projects you’ll develop a playbook for how to do it yourself. Good luck.
• sprsimplestuff 6y ago
  twitter
• maksimilian 6y ago
  what kind of projects are you working on? or what do you want to be working on?
• jjguy 6y ago
  I’d recommend joining an existing, early stage startup in the same/similar niche you eventually want to build your own product in. While there, make an effort to network with the non-technical staff. Not only will you learn a ton about shipping product in a startup (risking someone else’s money), but you will also grow your own network - including non-technical founder types. This model worked for me. I spent twelve years with the US federal government. I had great tech and business skills, but it was all federally focused. I joined the founding team of a startup, using my tech background. We got acquired 15 months in by a later stage startup. The resulting company IPO’d four years later. I joined another startup in the same industry as CTO just after their Series A, we got acquired two years later. Then I launched my own - 8 years after leaving the federal government. It is a ton easier now, with all the relationships from the last two. (Not to mention the depth of knowledge on everything) It is easy to think startups are all about the product & technology. But it is so much more!
  • arbitrary_name 6y ago
    A variation of this was posted above and I want to repeat: not always a great idea as it is easy to end up not having deep engagement with other business functions. It becomes heavily dependent on finding the right team. Good options for maximizing your network 1) stay with a Faang and reach out to people internally - many of the best non tech people are inside Amazon, FB etc 2) consider consulting that blends you with larger teams or different functions, either with a company or freelancing.
• dragostudor 6y ago
  It is important to work with someone that you can trust. Someone that can push through hell together with you and not abandon everything at the smallest bump. It takes a strong character, ambition and sense of urgency. When it comes to non-technical / business people, it might be counter-intuitive, but having attended a good university or having worked for a good company can indicate high intelligence and not entrepreneurial drive. This being said, you can still collaborate with technical people that are comfortable with selling the vision, product and services, can hustle and are reliable. Also, be careful of non-compete agreements by joining other start-ups. There are several ways in which you can find good co-founders: 1. Don’t prioritise finding a co-founders, just start building something and reach out to people. They might love what you’re doing and come on-board. 2. Get recommendations via your network about people who want to build a company and have complementary skills / similar goals. 3. Increase your visibility, publish your thoughts, network and debate about the future - randomness / serendipity is a wondrous force 4. Accelerators such as Antler and EF - as a last resort. I’m also looking for smart, relentless people that want to build a better future for generations to come. Don’t hesitate to reach out via linkedin - username: tudordragos
  • dublin 6y ago
    ^^THIS! Trust is THE most important factor. Treat this like finding someone to marry, because (sadly) there's a decent chance your startup could outlast your marriage. (Pay attention to that, BTW! Your family is really important, and unless you've already made a huge mistake, no company is worth losing them over.) Any good/honest partner will be willing to tie equity to milestones - never just toss a big chunk of equity to your CEO/cofounder just because others are stupid enough to do that. (Keep in mind the dictum that in most all startup cos., your equity is simultaneously worthless and the only thing of value the company has, other than your team which is usually there because of the potential for equity. As soon as you're funded, pay people fairly - not top of scale, but enough to keep them happy and loving the job.) And yes, FWIW, I've been on (and been burned on) both sides of these deals, both as a CTO looking for a good CEO to raise money and get us to market (lost my a$$) and as a contract CEO hired to get a company off the ground. The ONLY thing that matters is the people themselves, and more importantly, their character, trustworthiness, and insistence on being fully upright in all things. It's much harder to find these people than you might think, and it can be really hard to get rid of a bad one if you screw up. (As the Russians say, "Doveryai, no proveryai - Trust, but verify!")
• Geee 6y ago
  I wouldn't co-found with a business person (whatever that means). You need as many people as possible who actually make the product (developers and designers), and someone who is passionate about solving problems in a particular domain and talking to customers (a product manager). Sometimes these roles are just one person, sometimes two or three. Sales & marketing can be handled by the same team or hired for. You can hire sales people with existing networks if that is needed. I think that if one person can handle all of these roles, he should.
• kevmo314 6y ago
  Send me an email (<username> at gmail), would love to connect! I was in the same situation but found two non-technical cofounders. Now I'm the only technical person on the team, but it's at least great working with others. Much less lonely than working alone.
• paulsutter 6y ago
  From Paul Graham (http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html): > The good news is, choosing problems is something that can be learned. I know that from experience. Hackers can learn to make things customers want. [6] >This is a controversial view. One expert on "entrepreneurship" told me that any startup had to include business people, because only they could focus on what customers wanted. I'll probably alienate this guy forever by quoting him, but I have to risk it, because his email was such a perfect example of this view: 80% of MIT spinoffs succeed provided they have at least one management person in the team at the start. The business person represents the "voice of the customer" and that's what keeps the engineers and product development on track. > This is, in my opinion, a crock. Hackers are perfectly capable of hearing the voice of the customer without a business person to amplify the signal for them. Larry Page and Sergey Brin were grad students in computer science, which presumably makes them "engineers." Do you suppose Google is only good because they had some business guy whispering in their ears what customers wanted? It seems to me the business guys who did the most for Google were the ones who obligingly flew Altavista into a hillside just as Google was getting started.
  • neilv 6y ago
    You can understand the customer backwards and forwards, but I think you still need a business person who both knows how to court funding, and is willing to spend all their time doing that. One example, from my past, abandoned self-funded startup: my co-founder (customer domain expert) and I (all-in-one engineering) didn't want to be the ones courting VC, but we were also too slow to seek out a startup business person. For maybe two reasons: 1. We had a couple outside-the-box approaches, which would only really resonate with users because we weren't doing something in the way every other CEO in that space did it. 2. We were busy, and didn't know offhand where to look for the kind of CEO we needed -- who we'd trust to embrace the approach, not twist it before launch, nor (ethically worse) bait&switch our users afterwards. Maybe some kind of incubator would've helped us launch and get far enough for the right CEO to come to us. But we didn't have time to jump through the hoops of something like YC, for a small chance at a small amount of funding. And the process still seems oriented towards founders who want to be doing all the business stuff. PG might've sought to mold technical founders into business people -- but some technical people already have some idea what business is about, and know they'd rather someone else (trustworthy!) do the business parts they don't want to do much of.
• nefitty 6y ago
  https://indiehackers.com https://indiehackers.com has local communities around the world and online forums for discussing technical and non-technical startup processes
  • christophergs 6y ago
    There's even a group: https://www.indiehackers.com/group/looking-to-partner-up https://www.indiehackers.com/group/looking-to-partner-up In my experience Indie Hackers has an unusually high concentration of people who get things done, the kind of people with grit who you might want to partner with.
• cynusx 6y ago
  As a successful startup founder I see both sides of the table, the problem for business founders seem to be that they literally have no idea what a good technical founder looks like often signing up junior devs as cofounders. Then I see great devs and tech leads that wonder how to break into engineering management or CTO of a credible startup because all they see is random people with no clue pitching them. Reach out to me and if you're a solid engineer I'll find you a solid business partner. (email in profile)
• arbitrary_name 6y ago
  I am non-technical (strategy consultant, worked in biz Dev, led scrum teams in implementation programs, program management, implemand now work with Faangs as clients). Would love to connect to future founders and others interested in my skillset, but felt like most people around HN are looking for good SWEs, and never see any postings or even discussions that fit my experienced. Would be awesome to have a regular post where non technical folks can stick their hands up for roles, discussion, to make connections etc.
• vctrs 6y ago
  Deprioritise your current work. Do things outside of it.
• csunbird 6y ago
  Kind of relevant to the topic, but I am unable to find a technical co-founder to work with me on my pet project that might or might not take off. I am a software developer but it is a two man job, because I lack knowledge on mobile department. Any ideas?
  • sopromo 6y ago
    I am always open to new ideas and if it sounds like a good one I can get onboard
• btian 6y ago
  I would love to have a business co-founder! I'm a solid dev, worked for many years at a FAANG company, and MVP is done. Feel free to reach out (email in profile).
• walterbell 6y ago
  Offer free technical reviews, delivered by video call, for business pitch/plans written by founders who are looking for a technical co-founder. Either you recruit them to your idea, or they recruit you to theirs. In the best case, you will jointly come up with a new idea.
• Cro_on 6y ago
  right here on hn is / has the potential to be an ideal recruiting ground for non technical entrepreneurs. i mean, what you're essentially looking for is the intellectual equivalent of a bar, or more conveniently, the halls of residence in a good university. the reason universities are so ideal for finding cofounders is that perfect blend of infinite trajectory (minimal real world obligations) and equal standing. ideally, the place you're talking about has the capacity to integrate these things into a social sphere, without the media. hn can fulfil this role more or less, and could do so to a greater extent if they had the incentive to. you have the karma / profile to judge someone's character and understanding, and their further contact if that's what they want. it so happens that all of the job postings are for technical positions, but that is due to the fact that it is more likely for someone nontechnical to need an engineer than the other way around. where else would the millennial steve jobs be lurking? (this is not exclusively rhetoric – if there is another answer that's not hn then go there) if they're nowhere obvious, then they're hustling, and good luck finding them if you didn't go to school with them.
• fgimenez 6y ago
  I’m a VC, so this take is biased. Liberally apply grains of salt. If you are looking to start a VC-scale startup, I’d suggest talking to VCs who can help introduce you to domain experts. There are a few reasons this is beneficial: - You get to battle test your idea to hone the story. This will help you recruit non-technical people. - You build relationships with VC for the moment you need funding. - You learn which VC are actually helpful. The meme is that all VC have to pitch how much value they add, but the reality is most can’t/won’t/don’t outside of MBA 101 platitudes. - A great VC is always building out networks for BD and founder identification. You should leverage that to help in your space. - Even if the idea doesnt pan out, if you prove yourself to be talented and hard working, they are incentivized to help you find a role relevant to your interests. This is colored by my personal investing philosophy that you should prioritize meeting “makers”. Others prioritize meeting executives, or sources of capital, or influencers, etc... None is a “true” path, there are successes in each. But the ones focused on makers always want to chat with folks like you.
  • mav3rick 6y ago
    I doubt you all reply to cold emails ? As someone who has no connections to the VC world, it does feel intimidating just writing a cold email. Then again - nothing to lose.
    • lisper 6y ago
      You'd be surprised. VCs will often respond to cold calls because part of their job is to cultivate connections with people who will be starting the Next Big Thing. The best way to do that is to get them into their rolodex before they get on anyone else's radar. But be careful what you wish for. Getting the cold call response and even the first meeting is relatively easy. But it is also easy to exhibit a level of cluelessness that will get you blackballed, and if that happens you will probably never know it. So that first meeting can be very much a two-edged sword. You only get one chance to make a first impression.
      • halfmatthalfcat 6y ago
• i-j 6y ago
  An additional perspective, Carol Chen had an interesting post and thoughts about her ups and downs of being a co-founder / founder https://carolchen.me/blog/founding-bad/ https://carolchen.me/blog/founding-bad/
• an_opabinia 6y ago
  > I'm finding it quite unfulfilling Leaving your job is going to be a very expensive mistake. If this is your motivation, your personal lack of fulfillment is going to be the #1 obstacle to recruiting others. This would be true of a cultural or non-profit enterprise too, and you underestimate how much recruiting by people who are chasing fulfillment in their lives boils down to, "And here's a bunch of dad's money" - those are the people you are competing with in terms of recruiting people into your thing, and those rich kids are going to do it better than you. My suggestion is to only pursue something that you can do exclusively by yourself. That is the only takeaway. Or don't do this at all.
• gkoberger 6y ago
  There's one way and one way only: former coworkers. That's the only good option. Someone you've worked with. And not just someone you liked... someone you admire. That being said, all high-impact jobs at a startup are technical at first and then slowly shifts to nontechnical. So early on, your non-technical cofounder will be bored and not have much to do. And as time goes on, assuming they are still around, that will shift. Consider instead going with two technical founders, and assume one or both of you will end up shifting into a more operational role.
• nell 6y ago
  I think you need to go to a smaller company not a startup necessarily. Go to a company that has PMF, working on scaling but the org size is still small to have meaningful relationships. Also you should be able to see your work directly impacting to your customers. People in other orgs are coming to you or your immediate team to discuss rollout/customer issues etc. Avoid companies with too many levels in the hierarchy. Assuming you're in your 20s or early 30s, I recommend going to a place run by experienced people who can mentor you. I'm beyond that age range, but still have a boss who is experienced and teaches me something everyday.
• wesammikhail 6y ago
  For context: I am a software engineer and angel investor that specializes in early stage exits. I have built and exited multiple startups together with a bunch of wonderful people over the years. The problem you are describing is not unique in any way, shape or form. I coach dozens of startups every year and your problem is more common than you might think. When I first started, I was just like you. I had no one to turn to and I felt like I could get nowhere. Meetups and networking events were and still are a waste of time for the most part as you don’t really want to get into business with people you´ve only met for 2 hours and know very little about on a personal level. So where does that leave you? 1) You don’t need a non-technical person: Find a technical co-founder who has transitioned into management or have some sense of how to run a business and have said person be in charge of the duties that you don’t excel at. The reason I usually make this recommendation to people in your position is that most non-technical people tend to have a problem communicating with their technical counter-part because they don´t understand the technical challenges ahead the same way you do. It leads to resentment and hostility when communication breaks down. This is one of the most common reasons startups fail. Communication is key in team building. 2) Keep working on your product and ignore all the fluff: Put your head down and grind an MVP out before worrying about any of the other stuff. We can all pump out ideas by the hundreds, but execution is really what matters at the end of the day. Building an MVP most often does not require a co-founder. It just requires you to spend some of your free time building things. Do what you can for now (if you are serious about this) and stop worrying about “expansion plans”, “go to market strategies” and “networks”. 2) Get a couple of advisors that you can trust: Ask those who have gone through this whole thing before and let them mentor you. A lot of times people connect via their advisors´ networks and that usually ends up being a lot more successful of a partnership. This is because any person your advisor is going to suggest you partner up with in some capacity will have been screened/filtered by said advisor. I connect people at least a dozen times a year that I think would be great fit for each other, and that ends up working a lot better than finding people via networking events. The key here is to find advisors that are honest and want what is in your best interest. 3) Utilize capital properly: If you have an MVP for an idea that is worth its salt, finding capital these days is extremely easy. In fact, it is so easy that people raise absurd amounts because capital is competing for deals. There is a lot more money out there than there are good companies to invest in. All you need is for your product to be in the hands of a couple hundred people. This validates you and shows that you are actually doing real work. Investors invest in people first; products and ideas are secondary for the most part. Take that money and hire for the things you are not good at. You don’t always need a co-founder. Sometimes a good employee can become your co-founder after the fact as they prove to you over time that they are trust-worthy, hardworking and capable. 4) Create a communication channels: Once you have an MVP ready, make sure that communication channels with your users are well established for continuous feedback. As an example, you can create a Discord group where your users can give you feedback and feature requests/ideas. That becomes the mechanism for other like-minded people, that are already using your product, to reach out to you. It would be impossible for me to count the number of times people have reached out to me via one of those communication channels about one of my startups. When people are excited about what you are doing, they will seek you out rather than the other way around. 5) COVID is actually a blessing not a curse: There are now tens of thousands of people like you that are sitting at home waiting for their moment to shine. They are all motivated and willing to get to work. You just need to have something to present to the world so that people can be excited. Remember, you are asking for someone to go on a journey together with you. Excite people and have them chase you. Finally, if you (or anyone else for that matter) wants to have a chat about their startup/product, feel free to reach out to me. My email is in my profile.
• lgleason 6y ago
  This is a semi serious answer but... If we were not in the middle of COVID I would say to take a trip to Atlanta. In the Atlanta startup community there is no shortage of MBA and marketing types with lots of ideas that are just looking for a developer who is willing to work for next to nothing and equity that is much smaller than it should be. Of course all of these business types will tell you about how they are the tech visionaries. They dominate most of the big startup events in that town that are supposed to be tech focused and will write countless marketing pieces telling you why their next co-working space makes Atlanta the "Silicon Valley of the East". In reality, a former tech reporter for the Atlanta Business Chronicle more accurately called Atlanta the Bangalore of the South since many larger tech groups will open offices here to try to reduce costs. Don't get me wrong with Atlanta, it is a great place to live from a standpoint of having a lower cost of living compared with what you can get for a salary, especially if you are able to work for a west coast company that pays well. There are also other cities with a similar dynamic. My point is that there are many ways to find it, but be careful because you may be trading one set of problems for another.
  • paul_f 6y ago
    The non-technical entrepreneur-MBA types tend to over-value their business "ideas" and want 2/3 of the company. Because it was "their idea". Be careful.
  • dublin 6y ago
    FWIW, though I love and grew up in Austin, it an extremely dysfunctional startup/VC community, so unless you just have to have the cool factor, find almost anyplace else to start your company - real estate will be lots cheaper, too, and you might even have a functioning city government. As I said, I love it here, but will be leaving before too much longer, as it's going all the wrong ways, esp. w.r.t. startup culture.
• 100-xyz 6y ago
  Hi, Dont mean to hijack the thread... I am in a similar position. I have a startup toonclip.com. Its a web based animation editor, has about 100 registered users and has some product market fit. Would love to meet business oriented founders who are familiar with this industry. Please drop an email to leisenmint AT protonmail DOT com
• stevewilhelm 6y ago
  My I suggest Lunchclub, "Curated 1:1 professional connections." https://lunchclub.ai/ https://lunchclub.ai/
• chrisgoman 6y ago
  Unfortunately, founder-dating is the same as normal dating but probably even harder as the stakes are higher. It's very difficult to find same "motivation-level" people (how much do they "want" it, are they as "hungry" as you, etc.) and it is very hard to gauge with talk as you have to see their actions to really know and sometimes it may be too late. At the same time, there is also the "stage in life" (single, married, etc.) and how much can they risk (like a 45-yr old person may not be able to quit their high-paying job so you will carry the load and end up with a lot of resentment) Since you work at a FAANG as an engineer, I assume you are fairly well compensated so I suggest finding a semi-expensive hobby (definitely not FIRE friendly) like sailing or flying which may cost like $1k/mo to something you remotely enjoy so you get to meet people from all walks of life and domain expertise enjoying a "not cheap" hobby. The fact that they can afford it means they are motivated. The person doing your hobby may not be the person you end up starting a business with but it may be one-step away (degrees of separation). This may be bad advice ... so take with a grain of salt :)
  • taurath 6y ago
    Basically, go hang with rich people. It’s probably not bad advice. I’m not entirely sure why but it makes me a bit sad to think about.
    • chrisgoman 6y ago
      They can't be "too rich" where they are financially retired (they are not going to be in the same motivation level) but at least have some disposable income to engage in such an activity. It's a self-selecting network. Why do people pay $150k to get an MBA at Harvard if you can pay $20k somewhere else and maybe get the EXACT same education? It's because you know 99% of the people there paid $150k and you have a "better" network.
      • taurath 6y ago
        And yet we like to fool ourselves with ideas of a meritocracy.
  • 6y ago
• skmurphy 6y ago
  We have helped a number of teams form at the Bootstrapper Breakfast over the last fourteen years. You are welcome to join us, here is a schedule of meetings in September: https://bootstrappersbreakfast.com/2020/08/25/roundup-of-events-for-bootstrappers-in-september-2020/ https://bootstrappersbreakfast.com/2020/08/25/roundup-of-eve... You can also see a list of meetings on eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-valley-bootstrapper-breakfast-online-tickets-112267146056 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-valley-bootstrapper-bre... I would NOT quit your day job until you have a clear direction and a reasonable certainly of progress. Treat your current employer as a passive investor in your next venture. Here is a pointer to the first blog post in a series that provides some practical advice on how to find cofounders: https://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2010/06/25/finding-a-co-founder/ https://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2010/06/25/finding-a-co-founde...
• langitbiru 6y ago
  Why don't you learn some business skills yourself? The materials are available on internet. Sure it takes time. You want to learn digital marketing? There are many good tutorials on Youtube or you can buy some digital marketing books. If you took this path, you would reach the state on which you may not need a business co-founder anymore. If you met a good business co-founder, at least, you could gauge whether they are competent or not using your business skills. Some good materials for you to start learning business skills: Digital marketing: https://www.youtube.com/user/neilvkpatel https://www.youtube.com/user/neilvkpatel Corporate finance: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63B2lDhyKOsImI7FjCf6eDW https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63B2lDhyKOs... Supply chain: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/supply-chain-management#courses https://www.coursera.org/specializations/supply-chain-manage... HR: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/human-resource-management#courses https://www.coursera.org/specializations/human-resource-mana... Of course, YC Startup Library is a top-notch resource: https://www.ycombinator.com/library https://www.ycombinator.com/library About networking in Covid-19.... Actually it's still possible. You could join some online communities. You could build your brand on social media (Linkedin, Twitter, etc). For example, if I wanted to network with some influential people on blockchain space, I would follow their Twitter and contribute to the conversation (Twitter threads), I would join an opensource blockchain project and build some connections with the core developers. You get the idea. Good luck!
  • Grustaf 6y ago
    Everyone should learn the basics of business, but people have different talents and if you're born an engineer chances are you'll never be a very good salesman, and vice versa. Much better to focus on what you enjoy and do best, and find a business guy to focus on that part. Obviously, if you are both well rounded and have some understanding of the other's area that will make things more efficient but don't try to BE the other.
• francescopnpn 6y ago
  As the solo founder of a profitable $1MM ARR company I'd say you can do it on your own and there's nothing they can add anyway. Just pick a domain you're deeply obsessed with in the first place. Remember, in software in 2020 the only important thing is distribution. Work backwards from distribution. The biggest SaaS products aren't that great, they just have a great way to get sales/leads. The best consumer products, aren't that great (or weren't that great) - they just found an hack. 99.9% of startups thinks they need to make a great product and then raise VC and throw millions on FB and G ads -being highly unprofitable- (since PPC is a game for established deep-pocket companies with ridiculous CACs) Literally just hacks: Airbnb, spamming Craiglist. Dropbox, referral incentive-based storage + a viral funny video for hackers. Stripe, they happened to be in an early YC batch. Facebook started with the most exclusive place in the world: Harvard. Hotmail: adding "sent with hotmail" at the end of the email. etc. If you find a way to for ex. post on Facebook Groups at scale, then you should work a product backward from there since not all channels are suited for all products. If you have many friends in the intel community, probably you should make a product for the US Defense. Get the gist? in 2020 any decent dev can create any product and/or copy your idea. what's impossible is getting tons of customers at a reasonable acquisition cost as to be profitable and have to spare to re-invest in growth. Hardware/scientific breakthroughs are obviously different. Making the product is h hard part and distribution is easy: if you inventhe the transistor, the customers will be there. so yeah a sales cofounder will add nothing as he wont happen to know which temporary weird thing on the internet allows in a very specific way to get a ton of customers at a very cheap price (ideally free). If he did, he would hire anyone in the world as a contractor to build a prototype and distribute it through the hack he found- 99% of the work is already done when you found the well. If you'll attempt to methodically find a well (usually one just stumbles upon it), know that before you'll find find 1 you'll have to go thru 100+ dry wells. The alternative I guess is you could make software for a super niche kind of business. like Insurance. Software for insurance agents. Maybe an even more narrow niche. That's because you can reach these people via phone or email. which is free.
• vmurthy 6y ago
  As an engineer who later did an MBA, I found b-school to be a great melting pot for people from different backgrounds. Granted your situation is different, but your uni might be a great place. Depending on what you mean by "non-technical", you might want to seek out alumni who are successful salespeople or marketers etc. Good luck!
• muzani 6y ago
  Non-tech founders are more abundant, but usually outside your circles. You'll probably want two types: someone who can handle business/funding/sales, and someone who can focus on the product. More people have finance degrees than tech ones, and there's a lot of people who are domain experts. A good bet is someone who has their soul into the product. Someone who sincerely understands the pain point and works at it. If you're doing something for ships, you probably want to find someone who works within the ship industry. Spotify wasn't founded by music producers, but it was founded by people who were passionate about music streaming.