3 ms·

Ask HN: How do you meet a hacker to start a startup with if you are not in college?

34 points by gasull 18y ago

What do you suggest for meeting hackers? * Go back to school and learn a new programming language. * Collaborate in open source projects. * Go to startup conventions. * Other.

inklesspen 18y ago
Go to local "ruby user groups" or whatever your language of choice is. Or, heck, go to "ruby/python/blub++ user groups" even if you use Java; you'll meet some smart people there anyway.
- stcredzero 18y ago
  I'm very tempted to implement Blub++ now. Maybe do it as a pre-processor which can compile to Perl/Ruby/Python/Lua/Groovy as intermediate code. Of course, it would have to be a least common denominator of all of those languages.
debtkid 18y ago
craigslist?
dmix 18y ago
The best option is to go out to all the local get togethers for hackers and entrepreneurs, barcamps, and conventions. Plus try to introduce yourself to people online, this worked out much better for me then I expected. Have your idea fleshed out and know it inside out. Theres a lot at stake when you bring on a co-founder you only met recently. If the person is sincerely interested and is asking the right questions then you can give it a shot... just make sure it's a necessity before deciding to find someone. I was in a similar situation earlier this year. From my experience starting a business with a close friend, that knowing and trusting a person is only half the battle. They have to have the skills necessary for the start-up. Just knowing a programming language or being a good speaker may not be good enough. Some people aren't cut out to be founders. Recently I decided that I would rather raise capital and hire a developer with a nice stock option, mainly because I have a technical and business background. Although co-founders are still a great asset.
- IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
  Agreed. We tend to be a socially awkward bunch, so it can be intimidating to approach someone who seems like they've got their shit together. Just send an email and tell them you want to know them. What's the worst that can happen, they say no? Building a good nerdery is key.
burp 18y ago
"Other", obviously.
menloparkbum 18y ago
Get a job somewhere other hackers are working.
IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
Move to Silicon Valley. Join this group: http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/1737/ http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/1737/ Work for a company that has a lot of hackers. (Google and Yahoo are both very good choices.) You want quantity. Don't go back to school, it's a waste of time and money.
- jamesjyu 18y ago
  Seconded. I've met many people from meetups (from meetup.com or other places) that have the experience and hunger to start new projects.
- iamelgringo 18y ago
  ++ "move to Silicon Valley." The vibe here is really amazing. Two years ago we made the move to Silicon Valley and I haven't regretted it for a minute. Startups are in the air and water here. I've met a number of people that I'd consider co-Founder material. Networking opportunities abound. In the last 6 months I've gone to startup school, started the Hackers and Founders Meetup that Isaac linked to above, and I'm going to DjangoCon in 3 weeks. If you look in Meetup.com, there's dozens of meetups that happen for different technologies, entrepreneurship groups, startup groups, etc... It's actually hard to avoid programmers in this town. Isaac's right. Get a job at Yahoo/Google/Facebook/YC Startup and work for a year or two, make friends, save up some money and then make the leap with your new friends into the startup world. At least that's what a lot of other people are doing around here.
  - LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
    ...this thread emphasizes how much I need to get out of St. Louis.
DaniFong 18y ago
Get a job working at some other startup. You'll get a) Experience in startups b) Contacts with all sorts of startuppy people c) Money d) Stock, which could be worth a lot someday, if it pans out e) Freedom and a bunch of contacts of good people recently out of work, if it doesn't. Also, there are a few non-startup startuppy places. Google and Mozilla rank pretty highly up there. I hear Amazon is pretty good too, though the location isn't as good. "Startup" conventions are pretty low on intellectual content. Startup School is the only one I'd go to. On the other hand, tech conventions are pretty good: Foocamp/barcamp/superhappydevhouse/pycon/ruby meetups are pretty good. Also, there are a lot of startuppy people in the bay area javascript meetups, if you're in the area. http://javascript.meetup.com/4/ http://javascript.meetup.com/4/ Finally, contests in programming (ICFP, SPOJ, ACM, Topcoder) and math (contest in math modeling, the Putnam), and engineering (DARPA grand challenge, the solar car project, robotics contests) are a good place to find smart, project oriented people with a lot of technical depth, drive, and follow through, though you will often have to sell them on the idea of starting a company. Good luck!
aristus 18y ago
Plan A: Lived 10 years in Miami. Hosted dinners, worked on dozens of projects, ran open source projects, etc. Real Hackers met: 2, maybe 3. Plan B: Moved to SF, worked at a trendy startup. Real Hackers met: are you kidding? I pass 12 of them on the bus every day.
- breck 18y ago
  Thanks. Can't argue with data.
- auston 18y ago
  Interestingly enough, I believe the talent pool in S. Florida is starting to froth up. We've got some neat startups coming out of Florida (Myxer, Affinity, Verio, Batanga, Scrapblog, MOLI, PsyStar, Closed First, Lead log). Although I will not dispute the SF(San Fran) comment, I hope to see South Florida become "the other SF". I'd say South Florida is one of the top 10-12 places in the world in terms of number of startups at least according to: http://www.startupwarrior.com/ http://www.startupwarrior.com/
- breck 18y ago
  As aristus makes clear, the problem is mostly for people outside the Valley(like myself, for another few weeks). What do people think of this: http://www.justhackit.com http://www.justhackit.com
  - k4st 18y ago
    I think that the light grey font coupled with the small amount of line spacing makes it difficult to read article bodies. Otherwise, I've registered and made my first post :) As a side note, other than the lack of members, what makes your site stand apart from hacker news and proggit?
    - breck 18y ago
      Thanks. Fixed the colors. Will look at the line spacing in a sec. The lack of members is the biggest feature. The odds of it turning into the next Reddit/Digg are much lower than the odds of that happening here. :) Seriously, the idea stemmed from the YC meetup last week. PG said that the YC interviews aren't like interviews at all, they just "Do YC". If the team and YC seem to click, then they get accepted. I think the same thing applies for finding good cofounders--you just start something and see if the chemistry among the team clicks. I've started projects with friends and complete strangers before, and whether or not I knew them before the project isn't correlated with how well we worked together. There are a few people I met the day of starting a joint project who I'd love to start another company with. That's what I hope this site could do: not just bring hackers together to discuss startups, but bring them together to launch things and find new cofounders. I think there are a lot of people on HN that would be great to work with, and the best way to find them would be to just start projects. I currently am lucky enough to have a few hours free each day, but unlucky that I'm far from the Valley(I've got family commitments that have been keeping me in Southern MA all summer). When I get to the valley, I think it will be easier to find co-founders, but until then it's not that easy.
psyklic 18y ago
An equally difficult question: How do you meet a hacker to start a startup with if you ARE in college? ;-)
- stcredzero 18y ago
  Start an interesting project.
- ambition 18y ago
  Way, way easier. Group projects, the ACM-ICPC, short internships at many different companies, student conferences, research labs on campus...
KirinDave 18y ago
Get proactive, find other hackers. If you can't find other hackers, it's because you aren't looking. Physical location isn't necessarily important. I got into my first open source project remotely and that work actually led to a bunch of other jobs that got me pretty much smack dab into the SanFran startup scene. The key to getting other people to work with you is to wear your passion for a project on your sleeves. People of a like mind will be drawn to that. P.S. Why would you have to go back to school to learn a new programming language?
- gasull 18y ago
  Why would you have to go back to school to learn a new programming language? Learning a new language would be the excuse, and meeting new hackers in school the goal.
tlrobinson 18y ago
"Go back to school and learn a new programming language." Semi off-topic, but if you're in school to learn programming languages you're doing it wrong...
breck 18y ago
What do you think of this idea: http://www.justhackit.com http://www.justhackit.com
- UandIblog 18y ago
  Good job Breck, I took the liberty of kicking the whole thing off for us! Enjoy!
- gasull 18y ago
  Brilliant.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
CRASCH 18y ago
Posting a question on Hacker News about how to meet Hackers is a good start. If you are not in SC, which you are most likely not, you might post where you are. I'm always trying to meet more hackers in my area which is Denver.
- gasull 18y ago
  you might post where you are. In LA. Moving to San Fran in January.
pageman 18y ago
work in a coworking space http://coworking.pbwiki.com/ http://coworking.pbwiki.com/
- shedd 18y ago
  Co-working spaces are a good suggestion. They seem to be used by fairly entrepreneurial people and might be a good way to meet potential co-founders in areas that are still growing in terms of startups.
ambition 18y ago
People are drawn to success. Spend some time building your own value by making something cool. If you are impressive more people will want to meet you and more will come out of the people you meet.
vulpes 18y ago
One thing that hasn't be suggested is Twitter, twitter with local people and a lot of times you cross some amazing individuals
michaelneale 18y ago
Find us online? My details are available on HN - probably too much info online :(
dansegzy 18y ago
i wish to meet an hacker to help me with what i need to do
dansegzy 18y ago
i wish to meet an hacker to help me with what i need to do
dansegzy 18y ago
i wish to meet an hacker to help me with what i need to do like getting any bank login in united state

34 points by gasull 18y ago

What do you suggest for meeting hackers? * Go back to school and learn a new programming language. * Collaborate in open source projects. * Go to startup conventions. * Other.

inklesspen 18y ago

Go to local "ruby user groups" or whatever your language of choice is. Or, heck, go to "ruby/python/blub++ user groups" even if you use Java; you'll meet some smart people there anyway.

stcredzero 18y ago
I'm very tempted to implement Blub++ now. Maybe do it as a pre-processor which can compile to Perl/Ruby/Python/Lua/Groovy as intermediate code. Of course, it would have to be a least common denominator of all of those languages.

debtkid 18y ago

craigslist?

dmix 18y ago

The best option is to go out to all the local get togethers for hackers and entrepreneurs, barcamps, and conventions. Plus try to introduce yourself to people online, this worked out much better for me then I expected. Have your idea fleshed out and know it inside out. Theres a lot at stake when you bring on a co-founder you only met recently. If the person is sincerely interested and is asking the right questions then you can give it a shot... just make sure it's a necessity before deciding to find someone. I was in a similar situation earlier this year. From my experience starting a business with a close friend, that knowing and trusting a person is only half the battle. They have to have the skills necessary for the start-up. Just knowing a programming language or being a good speaker may not be good enough. Some people aren't cut out to be founders. Recently I decided that I would rather raise capital and hire a developer with a nice stock option, mainly because I have a technical and business background. Although co-founders are still a great asset.

IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
Agreed. We tend to be a socially awkward bunch, so it can be intimidating to approach someone who seems like they've got their shit together. Just send an email and tell them you want to know them. What's the worst that can happen, they say no? Building a good nerdery is key.

burp 18y ago

"Other", obviously.

menloparkbum 18y ago

Get a job somewhere other hackers are working.

IsaacSchlueter 18y ago

Move to Silicon Valley. Join this group: http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/1737/ http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/1737/ Work for a company that has a lot of hackers. (Google and Yahoo are both very good choices.) You want quantity. Don't go back to school, it's a waste of time and money.

jamesjyu 18y ago
Seconded. I've met many people from meetups (from meetup.com or other places) that have the experience and hunger to start new projects.
iamelgringo 18y ago
++ "move to Silicon Valley." The vibe here is really amazing. Two years ago we made the move to Silicon Valley and I haven't regretted it for a minute. Startups are in the air and water here. I've met a number of people that I'd consider co-Founder material. Networking opportunities abound. In the last 6 months I've gone to startup school, started the Hackers and Founders Meetup that Isaac linked to above, and I'm going to DjangoCon in 3 weeks. If you look in Meetup.com, there's dozens of meetups that happen for different technologies, entrepreneurship groups, startup groups, etc... It's actually hard to avoid programmers in this town. Isaac's right. Get a job at Yahoo/Google/Facebook/YC Startup and work for a year or two, make friends, save up some money and then make the leap with your new friends into the startup world. At least that's what a lot of other people are doing around here.
- LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
  ...this thread emphasizes how much I need to get out of St. Louis.

DaniFong 18y ago

Get a job working at some other startup. You'll get a) Experience in startups b) Contacts with all sorts of startuppy people c) Money d) Stock, which could be worth a lot someday, if it pans out e) Freedom and a bunch of contacts of good people recently out of work, if it doesn't. Also, there are a few non-startup startuppy places. Google and Mozilla rank pretty highly up there. I hear Amazon is pretty good too, though the location isn't as good. "Startup" conventions are pretty low on intellectual content. Startup School is the only one I'd go to. On the other hand, tech conventions are pretty good: Foocamp/barcamp/superhappydevhouse/pycon/ruby meetups are pretty good. Also, there are a lot of startuppy people in the bay area javascript meetups, if you're in the area. http://javascript.meetup.com/4/ http://javascript.meetup.com/4/ Finally, contests in programming (ICFP, SPOJ, ACM, Topcoder) and math (contest in math modeling, the Putnam), and engineering (DARPA grand challenge, the solar car project, robotics contests) are a good place to find smart, project oriented people with a lot of technical depth, drive, and follow through, though you will often have to sell them on the idea of starting a company. Good luck!

aristus 18y ago

Plan A: Lived 10 years in Miami. Hosted dinners, worked on dozens of projects, ran open source projects, etc. Real Hackers met: 2, maybe 3. Plan B: Moved to SF, worked at a trendy startup. Real Hackers met: are you kidding? I pass 12 of them on the bus every day.

breck 18y ago
Thanks. Can't argue with data.
auston 18y ago
Interestingly enough, I believe the talent pool in S. Florida is starting to froth up. We've got some neat startups coming out of Florida (Myxer, Affinity, Verio, Batanga, Scrapblog, MOLI, PsyStar, Closed First, Lead log). Although I will not dispute the SF(San Fran) comment, I hope to see South Florida become "the other SF". I'd say South Florida is one of the top 10-12 places in the world in terms of number of startups at least according to: http://www.startupwarrior.com/ http://www.startupwarrior.com/
breck 18y ago
As aristus makes clear, the problem is mostly for people outside the Valley(like myself, for another few weeks). What do people think of this: http://www.justhackit.com http://www.justhackit.com
- k4st 18y ago
  I think that the light grey font coupled with the small amount of line spacing makes it difficult to read article bodies. Otherwise, I've registered and made my first post :) As a side note, other than the lack of members, what makes your site stand apart from hacker news and proggit?
  - breck 18y ago
    Thanks. Fixed the colors. Will look at the line spacing in a sec. The lack of members is the biggest feature. The odds of it turning into the next Reddit/Digg are much lower than the odds of that happening here. :) Seriously, the idea stemmed from the YC meetup last week. PG said that the YC interviews aren't like interviews at all, they just "Do YC". If the team and YC seem to click, then they get accepted. I think the same thing applies for finding good cofounders--you just start something and see if the chemistry among the team clicks. I've started projects with friends and complete strangers before, and whether or not I knew them before the project isn't correlated with how well we worked together. There are a few people I met the day of starting a joint project who I'd love to start another company with. That's what I hope this site could do: not just bring hackers together to discuss startups, but bring them together to launch things and find new cofounders. I think there are a lot of people on HN that would be great to work with, and the best way to find them would be to just start projects. I currently am lucky enough to have a few hours free each day, but unlucky that I'm far from the Valley(I've got family commitments that have been keeping me in Southern MA all summer). When I get to the valley, I think it will be easier to find co-founders, but until then it's not that easy.

psyklic 18y ago

An equally difficult question: How do you meet a hacker to start a startup with if you ARE in college? ;-)

stcredzero 18y ago
Start an interesting project.
ambition 18y ago
Way, way easier. Group projects, the ACM-ICPC, short internships at many different companies, student conferences, research labs on campus...

KirinDave 18y ago

Get proactive, find other hackers. If you can't find other hackers, it's because you aren't looking. Physical location isn't necessarily important. I got into my first open source project remotely and that work actually led to a bunch of other jobs that got me pretty much smack dab into the SanFran startup scene. The key to getting other people to work with you is to wear your passion for a project on your sleeves. People of a like mind will be drawn to that. P.S. Why would you have to go back to school to learn a new programming language?

gasull 18y ago
Why would you have to go back to school to learn a new programming language? Learning a new language would be the excuse, and meeting new hackers in school the goal.

tlrobinson 18y ago

"Go back to school and learn a new programming language." Semi off-topic, but if you're in school to learn programming languages you're doing it wrong...

breck 18y ago

What do you think of this idea: http://www.justhackit.com http://www.justhackit.com

UandIblog 18y ago
Good job Breck, I took the liberty of kicking the whole thing off for us! Enjoy!
gasull 18y ago
Brilliant.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

CRASCH 18y ago

Posting a question on Hacker News about how to meet Hackers is a good start. If you are not in SC, which you are most likely not, you might post where you are. I'm always trying to meet more hackers in my area which is Denver.

gasull 18y ago
you might post where you are. In LA. Moving to San Fran in January.

pageman 18y ago

work in a coworking space http://coworking.pbwiki.com/ http://coworking.pbwiki.com/

shedd 18y ago
Co-working spaces are a good suggestion. They seem to be used by fairly entrepreneurial people and might be a good way to meet potential co-founders in areas that are still growing in terms of startups.

ambition 18y ago

People are drawn to success. Spend some time building your own value by making something cool. If you are impressive more people will want to meet you and more will come out of the people you meet.

vulpes 18y ago

One thing that hasn't be suggested is Twitter, twitter with local people and a lot of times you cross some amazing individuals

michaelneale 18y ago

Find us online? My details are available on HN - probably too much info online :(

dansegzy 18y ago

i wish to meet an hacker to help me with what i need to do

dansegzy 18y ago

i wish to meet an hacker to help me with what i need to do

dansegzy 18y ago

i wish to meet an hacker to help me with what i need to do like getting any bank login in united state