13 ms·

What do people want in a co-founder?

144 points by sandslash 5y ago

jollybean 5y ago
First issues are Integrity, Trust, 'Business Maturity' (i.e. can communicate reasonably, operationally competent) etc.. It's like a rocky marriage with divorces and re-marriages, you have to really trust and get along, even when visions are not aligned. If you don't have that it will be very difficult.
timavr 5y ago
- Decent Human Being - Hard Worker - Wicked Smart - Someone I want to spend time with
founderericliu 5y ago
Thank you for compiling this, excited to see how CFM iterates to make this process smoother!
andrew_ 5y ago
My needs are simple: Deep domain knowledge and deep trust.
- avmich 5y ago
  Can the latter be had at all, in a short order? Maybe if it's impossible, another criteria would be useful?
  - ksec 5y ago
    My thought on the issue is to talk about hard topics ( politics ). I think that is the easiest way to test one person's character.
notenoughbeans 5y ago
I want someone that can sell what I've built.
- anonymouse008 5y ago
  What have you built?
  - notenoughbeans 5y ago
    I have created some low-code, zero-code devtools for personal use I want to polish and get on the market.
    - anonymouse008 5y ago
      Hot market right now -- have a (public) readme / repo / anything?
      - notenoughbeans 5y ago
        Still a work in progress. I'm planning on sharing it once it's more ready.
        Grimm1 5y ago
        In my experience that's a trap, if you have a small set of useable features, release it now and get feedback from real people.
        andrewnc 5y ago
        As they say in the start up world "Ship It!" I've seen lots of advice that says people ship too late. I'm not sure if that's the case here, but something to consider.
        halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
        Don't pay attention to the other "just ship it" comments, it'll be ready when it's ready. Too many people like to walk out that trite phrase when they have no knowledge on what you're doing or where you're at yet want to seem like they know something you don't. It's annoying.
sushsjsuauahab 5y ago
Not applicable, I just need introductions to people who might want to buy what I sell, and a lawyer to protect me.
handrous 5y ago
- Fat rolodex full of rich people they know well enough that they might say yes to chatting over golf, and who aren't risk-averse (I have zero such people in mine, so this would be a must). - Domain knowledge—but, very specifically, knowledge of how to navigate the legal and business environment of that domain, especially all the "secret" stuff. If they don't know what X or Y is called or how to do some procedure that only low-on-the-totem-pole people do, that's fine—if they've got the rest of this, then they'll surely know people we can ask/interview for those parts. - At least enough sales skills to get the folks from the first point to fund us OR to make some useful introductions OR to grease some wheels.
- neonate 5y ago
  Are golf and such things still important to startups nowadays? I would have hoped that was dying off already.
  - hellbannedguy 5y ago
    It's probally Ultimate Frisbie, but dear old dad who putters on the green has money, and connections. And helps out wayward Chad after they figure out what excites them in life. A sympathetic wealthy dad is the key to success too much of the time. Of course Chadwick tells everyone his Horatio Algers bootstrap Ramen journey to success story if the company ever pans out. (Purposely didn't use commas. Why--too disenfranchised to care anymore.)
  - Kluny 5y ago
    You can meet people at improv club, hockey or mountain biking instead, but you still have to meet people somehow, right?
    - lisper 5y ago
      And you are much more likely to meet potential investors on a golf course than at an improv club.
  - aketchum 5y ago
waprin 5y ago
I briefly floated a profile on there, though I decided to take a new full time job and focus on that for a while instead. While on the platform, I was flooded with non technical people who didn’t have much besides an idea and an MBA. I guess if they could credibly raise money/sell product then maybe it would make sense but I was highly skeptical of the value add, and I got the feeling a lot of them were looking for a free dev to build some big product that they now get to shop around to investors, taking 50% of the equity for doing so. The #1 skill I am always hoping to find someone with that I vibe with is design. No matter what you build, both UX design and a consistent visual aesthetic are very important. For some reason SWEs make more money than designers in industry but whenever you’re at startup network events it always seems SWEs outnumber designers 3 to 1. And likewise I didn’t see many people with design portfolios on this platform. I’m surprised so few people care about where there cofounder lives. It seems YC is geared towards situations where you go all in, work hard full time on the project etc. That would be a situation where I would most care about a strong relationship that I think would be much easier to build in person.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- nicoburns 5y ago
  For me it would be sales and the "business" side of things. And perhaps some domain expertise. I can do design competently enough to make it work (I do most the design work at my current company despite nominally being the lead software engineer). The problem I have is that I have no idea how one would go about evaluating someones capability at that skillset.
  - OnlineGladiator 5y ago
    > The problem I have is that I have no idea how one would go about evaluating someones capability at that skillset. I'm not pretending this is the best way to approach it (I'd approach it very differently, but I have the benefit of already having started my own company), but start with the obvious: ask them what they'd contribute and just let the questions flow naturally from there. If they can't sell themselves to you, they almost certainly can't sell themselves to investors, customers, and future employees.
fierro 5y ago
killer instinct
sudosteph 5y ago
If I were to bring on a co-founder at this point, I'd want someone who is willing to live in the same city as me, is charming AF, and has some complementary skillset that will remain valuable as the company scales (sales/marketing and data engineering/analytics being the big two for my startup). But me and my co-founder are actually doing alright without a 3rd, so will probably just be picky about first hires.
- sillysaurusx 5y ago
  > willing to live in the same city as me, is charming AF, and has some complementary skillset that will remain valuable A spouse tends to have all of these. Hmm...
  - sudosteph 5y ago
    Well, my spouse IS my current co-founder, so clearly I chose wisely.
    - xwdv 5y ago
      So you have a family business.
chadash 5y ago
"Among founders who do not do Engineering, 80% prefer a co-founder who does Engineering." I'm sure this familiar to any engineer on this site. "I have this great idea for an app, and I just need you to build it. We'll split the company 50/50."
- corobo 5y ago
  "Oh cool! Show me your business plan!"
- yawnxyz 5y ago
  At first I thought it'd be great to pick up engineering and say yes to some of these founders. After becoming a designer/engineer I've realized that most of these ideas take shape during the engineering process. And the process will in turn change and twist the idea itself based on customer interviews and iterative prototypes. The engineering process leads to better "ideas" that replace the initial ideas. But most non-engineer, first-time founders don't realize that's the case. The engineering process also pokes so many holes in the first idea, because they require the idea to actually be fleshed out... Maybe I'm just bitter about working with doe-eyed, non-technical first time "idea person" kind of founders.
- anyfactor 5y ago
  As a dev I entertain this idea on 4 criteria - 1. You are a veteran in the target industry. 2. You have connections and you are well-liked. 3. You can sell to those people. 4. There is a mutual trust and respect between us. If you know the industry inside out and you are willing to sell, I would have no problem to partner up. But usually those who are successful in an industry rarely have enough time to invest in a startup. People I want to partner up with are so busy managing their business, client and family, they will just end up having a custom software made with their money and try to sell that.
- jillesvangurp 5y ago
  Yep, it's worse actually. You rarely get offered anywhere near 50%. Over the years I've coached more than a few founders. Usually they come to me because they are looking for a CTO because they assume they need one. My #1 advice to companies like that is actually to not get a CTO unless they are a proper tech startup where the tech is what defines the company. Most startups simply aren't and they need skilled engineers rather than some CTO/propellor head. They need somebody that will build them an MVP and that is good at bringing in more tech people when growth happens. I have a few reasons for this: 1) the type of engineer that ends up taking that role is rarely proper CTO or even management material; or even very senior when it comes to engineering. It's a convenience marriage between a random tech person who happens to be available and some business people not really qualified to make tech hiring decisions. So, avoid that situation and get some doers involved and give them enough equity or cash to keep them motivated but without creating the illusion that they are there to do something else than executing your vision. 2) inevitably the moment comes where early CTOs not really suitable for the job need to be replaced (or simply walk away) if the company actually survives long enough. As a founder you need to be honest about how the company will evolve. And that often means getting some grown ups involved as soon as money allows for that; especially on the tech front. I've seen more than a few startups with very awkward CTO types getting a senior baby sitter in the form of a VP of engineering or something similar. 3) CTO is a vanity title in a startup. You can use it to up-sell to engineers their role in your company and sometimes you need to do that to keep them and get them to build your product. However, it often ends up looking a bit desperate when you hand it out to the first engineer willing to talk to you and it creates awkward situations when you later meet someone more suitable for the role. If you are a proper tech company it's different. You need such a company to be driven by a technical founder and such a company needs to be created primarily by technical founders. So, it would be unusual for such a company to be even looking for a CTO because that would indicate some serious issues with the founding team. They'd be looking for CMO/CSO/CEO types instead.
zalebz 5y ago
A few initial thoughts jump out at me: someone I respect in a domain of life I respect (could be music/athletics/relationships/humor/whatever but ultimately it is a reason I enjoy them as a person and in times of adversity can't dismiss them as a disposable generic employee) moreover, the above attribute also often demonstrates a healthy life balance outside of work, and this will help prevent workaholic burnout which is a very real pitfall ina startup someone that has motivation/ambition in a domain(s) that I do not (maybe I can do a particular skill and even at a competent level, but I'd rather have a partner that enjoys it and reads up about it in their spare time even if they aren't as "good" at that skill as I am right now) someone that has been challenged in life in some fashion. again the domain isn't as important as the experience of facing pressure/adversity and finding that extra gear within oneself to emerge. and furthermore then wanting to start the next challenge despite having already gone through the wringer. in my experience there are people who thrive under pressure and those that tend to hide/crumble when challenged. you obviously want the former and some that has been tested. there are plenty of other attributes that are covered by great replies that I won't repeat. I felt these seemed a bit distinct (at least when I posted) and worth mentioning
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
> 65% of founders do Product > 57% of founders do Operations > 52% of founders do Sales and Marketing > 37% of founders do Design > 31% of founders do Engineering > Engineers seem to be in high demand. Among founders who do not do Engineering, 80% prefer a co-founder who does Engineering. This mirrors what I've seen in every co-founder matching forum: A huge imbalance of soft skills over engineering experience. I'm sure some of those founders are extremely talented at product, operations, sales, and design. However, there are many others who fit the classic "idea guy" stereotype. One thing I've learned from using co-founder matchmaking services like this is how hard it is to tell the difference between the two types of founders from credentials alone. A striking number of the people with impressive resumes and FAANG backgrounds got there by mastering big company skills and working their way up the ladder and through interview processes. Eventually they conclude that a startup is just more of the same big skills but with them at the top of the org chart. Some of the most promising people I've talked to on these platforms had less traditionally impressive resumes. They didn't necessarily have Ivy League university backgrounds or FAANG companies on their resume. That's likely what led them to use these platforms in the first place: Smaller personal networks that necessitate reaching farther for potential co-founders. These services can be interesting, but it really feels like a numbers game. Be prepared to take a lot of conversations very quickly, don't let impressive credentials alone sway you, and don't get discouraged by the volume of negative matches.
- mancerayder 5y ago
  I'd like to comment here as a tech person that's moved into management. Not as a founder, but I've done consulting in the past and I've worked in all sized companies. As I've become less technical, I occasionally come across the highly technical, often almost genius-like engineer who fails to comprehend organizational structure and social structures. They fail to 'see' them, so sometimes decisions that you make as manager, or that the company makes, feel foreign to them. And so they often have cynical ideas (often found online) about companies, managers and so forth. While some of the cynical stuff can often be true, my point is this: the successful engineer is also someone with social skills, and that includes company skills as you put it. The person with pure ladder climbing skills is a fraud. But the person who can both be technical 'enough' and understand organizational and human structures can help things scale. What's missing from the conversation is Creativity, I think, or maybe it's me that's out of touch. Successful people seem to be ones that aren't afraid to take unique approaches to solving problems. Sometimes 'engineers' are highly talented but they're looking for blueprints and patterns to follow rather than create - and I am not talking about code.
wanderinghogan 5y ago
A tech-literate business person who is around the same life stage as me (or are sympathetic/able to work with people in different life stages), if I were looking.
dahart 5y ago
Having gone through it, I think the single most important things are missing. Your co-founder needs to have the same vision as you, they need to want the same outcome. And you don’t find out that you want different outcomes for a long time, it’s very very easy in the beginning to agree you both want a successful company, for your software to be awesome, and for money to roll in. Later when things get real, you may discover your shared vision isn’t quite as shared as you thought. The other thing I want in a co-founder is someone who will have my back unflinchingly and always when speaking to others, whether it’s investors or customers or just friends and family, because inevitably things will come up that worry you which can sow mistrust if not caught quickly. I was lucky to have such a co-founder, and I actually feel guilty for worrying that they didn’t always support me. I tried to return the trust at all times. But note that discovering differing visions can and does threaten your ability to know if a co-founder trusts you! I think it’s a miracle that companies survive, knowing how easy it is for people to want different things.
Graffur 5y ago
Someone nice, eager, available, smart and driven
earksiinni 5y ago
I signed up for the platform as an engineer looking for non-engineers. Unlike some of the engineer types here, I'm of the opinion that engineering is as important (not more important) than non-technical skill sets. In some startups, it's probably less important. The problem is that the profiles I match with read like resumes. I don't care too much that you were early employee at XYZ Corp or that you had a successful $100m exit. I care about your heart. I've cofounded too many times with cofounders whose worldview, politics, and level of emotional empathy and openness were incompatible with mine. It sucked every time and was the #1 cause for failure. Sometimes I feel like a vox clamantis in deserto when it comes to advocating for founders with higher emotional awareness. I'm happy whenever I read posts on HN about why neurodiversity matters in tech, but they almost always focus on folks on the spectrum. Then there are folks like me, oftentimes survivors of abuse who are neuro-atypical in a different way. We are empaths--and very much not fitting in the mold of a "typical" engineer or how non-engineers perceive typical engineers. I don't need a fellow empath as a co-founder, but at least I need someone who understands where I'm coming from and is compatible. Brag sheets tend to drive me away, but that's the ethos we've built into our industry, so I don't blame the individuals.
- what_is_orcas 5y ago
  Fellow engineer here who cares about the same things you report here. Did you just give up (using that platform)? Did you find a better platform?
  - earksiinni 5y ago
    I didn't give up per se, but I'm not actively checking it, either. Sometimes I get emails about matches, which I read. Haven't found any that clicked so far. Right now, though, I'm going through a phase where I'm doubting whether I want to do a startup at all. Still fully onboard for entrepreneurship, but I'm questioning whether the startup path (especially the VC path) is right for my goals. I am, however, interested in making organic connections with like-minded individuals. Perhaps like right here, in the comments of HN ;-)
    - 5y ago
dasil003 5y ago
You know in 20+ years of founding and working at a bunch of different startups and companies ranging from big companies in fly-over country, to team-of-2 bootstrapped 6-figure businesses, and all the way up to super hot pre-IPO unicorns; one thing I've learned is that great people that you gel with and might want to start a company with are everywhere in equal proportions. Sure, there are probably slightly more of them in Silicon Valley, but also SV is full of wannabes who are playing house, so the signal to noise ratio is actually less. I feel any kind co-founder dating suffers from the exact same thing. YC's name gives it more legitimacy, but that very fact attracts more dedicated wannabes who are just playing house harder. Ultimately after all these years I keep coming back to Joel Spolsky's idea of working with people who are "smart and get things done". That's it. I am skeptical I will find someone I want to work with on a co-founder dating site, because the people I want to work with are too busy trying to do a thing with the resources available to them versus looking for a longshot silver bullet. There are exceptions of course, but this is just my gut instinct, you might take it with a grain of salt since I waste a lot of time commenting on HN :)
- mikepurvis 5y ago
  Completely agree. I'm an employee right now, but if I were ever looking for a co-founder, my shortlist would be the people I've worked with, hacking together some random project at all hours.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- codegeek 5y ago
  I have been on the y combinator co-founder portal and so far, it has not been that great. Most people either don't respond or if they do, they are really mostly interested in their own ideas and I know the irony of saying this because I have my own ideas. I really believe that finding a co-founder is almost impossible to plan but it is more of an accident. Unless you have worked with someone for a while and know their strengths and weaknesses, no site can solve this problem. Having said this, if you have a great co-founder, you truly are very lucky because I know how lonely it gets as a solo founder.
weezin 5y ago
Someone good at things I suck at.
costcofries 5y ago
I think the answer is usually, someone who has skills that you don't. When I think about looking for a co-founder, I know what specific skills I am looking for, there is a gap, this second person would fill that gap. Some other thoughts: - Specific skill set (what is their expertise) - Values alignment - Ways of working (work life balance, etc) - Communication style - Conflict resolution and disagreement management
boulos 5y ago
Fwiw, the survey design missed an important aspect of "don't care about location": most people are probably assuming a lot of time zone overlap. So they might say "don't care about location" (true in some sense), but wouldn't have said "Yes! Sign me up for a 12-hour time difference!".
mrkramer 5y ago
A friend who is ready to help and who will not leave me when difficult times come.
WalterBright 5y ago
I want them to have the leet business skillz I don't have. I don't want a clone of myself with the same strengths and faults.
giantg2 5y ago
This sounds like a cool service. I wish I had more time and skills to make a profile.
sam0x17 5y ago
Technical founders who have decided to take on bizdev stuff in this role but know what they're talking about when it comes to the tech stack are an incredible asset. Nothing better than an ex-engineer as a COO/CEO/etc
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
austincheney 5y ago
What I would want is a magical personality. I am the introverted engineer type. I believe am well versed in listening but I don’t have the willpower to listen to endless word vomit. I want to get shit done. My magical cofounder would be somebody slightly extroverted. Somebody who loves to go to parties, mingle, and form relationships. Somebody who views relationships as another form of engineering problem they are eager to solve and dazzle. When I say dazzle I mean impress and not bullshit. Everybody seemed impressed by Elizabeth Holmes but her motivational mantras, like going all in without a backup plan always felt like a hollow lie, even far before she was exposed. I couldn’t work with anybody like that.
jokethrowaway 5y ago
You can probably get away with not having the perfect product from a technical point of view (or even a platform built by amateurs which will spectacularly explode later on), but how are you going to sell it? From my experience, having good sales (by which I mean, a good selling / marketing strategy, not necessarily going door to door) will make or break early stage startups. Maybe people in SV don't care because they can get funding more easily?
nomdep 5y ago
A product already immensely profitable and a very generous hearth. Beyond that, a trusted friend with similar goals and complementary skills.

144 points by sandslash 5y ago

First issues are Integrity, Trust, 'Business Maturity' (i.e. can communicate reasonably, operationally competent) etc.. It's like a rocky marriage with divorces and re-marriages, you have to really trust and get along, even when visions are not aligned. If you don't have that it will be very difficult.

timavr 5y ago

- Decent Human Being - Hard Worker - Wicked Smart - Someone I want to spend time with

founderericliu 5y ago

Thank you for compiling this, excited to see how CFM iterates to make this process smoother!

andrew_ 5y ago

My needs are simple: Deep domain knowledge and deep trust.

avmich 5y ago
Can the latter be had at all, in a short order? Maybe if it's impossible, another criteria would be useful?
- ksec 5y ago
  My thought on the issue is to talk about hard topics ( politics ). I think that is the easiest way to test one person's character.

notenoughbeans 5y ago

I want someone that can sell what I've built.

anonymouse008 5y ago
What have you built?
- notenoughbeans 5y ago
  I have created some low-code, zero-code devtools for personal use I want to polish and get on the market.
  - anonymouse008 5y ago
    Hot market right now -- have a (public) readme / repo / anything?
    - notenoughbeans 5y ago
      Still a work in progress. I'm planning on sharing it once it's more ready.
      - Grimm1 5y ago
        In my experience that's a trap, if you have a small set of useable features, release it now and get feedback from real people.
      - andrewnc 5y ago
        As they say in the start up world "Ship It!" I've seen lots of advice that says people ship too late. I'm not sure if that's the case here, but something to consider.
      - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
        Don't pay attention to the other "just ship it" comments, it'll be ready when it's ready. Too many people like to walk out that trite phrase when they have no knowledge on what you're doing or where you're at yet want to seem like they know something you don't. It's annoying.

sushsjsuauahab 5y ago

Not applicable, I just need introductions to people who might want to buy what I sell, and a lawyer to protect me.

handrous 5y ago

- Fat rolodex full of rich people they know well enough that they might say yes to chatting over golf, and who aren't risk-averse (I have zero such people in mine, so this would be a must). - Domain knowledge—but, very specifically, knowledge of how to navigate the legal and business environment of that domain, especially all the "secret" stuff. If they don't know what X or Y is called or how to do some procedure that only low-on-the-totem-pole people do, that's fine—if they've got the rest of this, then they'll surely know people we can ask/interview for those parts. - At least enough sales skills to get the folks from the first point to fund us OR to make some useful introductions OR to grease some wheels.

neonate 5y ago
Are golf and such things still important to startups nowadays? I would have hoped that was dying off already.
- hellbannedguy 5y ago
  It's probally Ultimate Frisbie, but dear old dad who putters on the green has money, and connections. And helps out wayward Chad after they figure out what excites them in life. A sympathetic wealthy dad is the key to success too much of the time. Of course Chadwick tells everyone his Horatio Algers bootstrap Ramen journey to success story if the company ever pans out. (Purposely didn't use commas. Why--too disenfranchised to care anymore.)
- Kluny 5y ago
  You can meet people at improv club, hockey or mountain biking instead, but you still have to meet people somehow, right?
  - lisper 5y ago
    And you are much more likely to meet potential investors on a golf course than at an improv club.
- aketchum 5y ago

waprin 5y ago

I briefly floated a profile on there, though I decided to take a new full time job and focus on that for a while instead. While on the platform, I was flooded with non technical people who didn’t have much besides an idea and an MBA. I guess if they could credibly raise money/sell product then maybe it would make sense but I was highly skeptical of the value add, and I got the feeling a lot of them were looking for a free dev to build some big product that they now get to shop around to investors, taking 50% of the equity for doing so. The #1 skill I am always hoping to find someone with that I vibe with is design. No matter what you build, both UX design and a consistent visual aesthetic are very important. For some reason SWEs make more money than designers in industry but whenever you’re at startup network events it always seems SWEs outnumber designers 3 to 1. And likewise I didn’t see many people with design portfolios on this platform. I’m surprised so few people care about where there cofounder lives. It seems YC is geared towards situations where you go all in, work hard full time on the project etc. That would be a situation where I would most care about a strong relationship that I think would be much easier to build in person.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
nicoburns 5y ago
For me it would be sales and the "business" side of things. And perhaps some domain expertise. I can do design competently enough to make it work (I do most the design work at my current company despite nominally being the lead software engineer). The problem I have is that I have no idea how one would go about evaluating someones capability at that skillset.
- OnlineGladiator 5y ago
  > The problem I have is that I have no idea how one would go about evaluating someones capability at that skillset. I'm not pretending this is the best way to approach it (I'd approach it very differently, but I have the benefit of already having started my own company), but start with the obvious: ask them what they'd contribute and just let the questions flow naturally from there. If they can't sell themselves to you, they almost certainly can't sell themselves to investors, customers, and future employees.

fierro 5y ago

killer instinct

sudosteph 5y ago

If I were to bring on a co-founder at this point, I'd want someone who is willing to live in the same city as me, is charming AF, and has some complementary skillset that will remain valuable as the company scales (sales/marketing and data engineering/analytics being the big two for my startup). But me and my co-founder are actually doing alright without a 3rd, so will probably just be picky about first hires.

sillysaurusx 5y ago
> willing to live in the same city as me, is charming AF, and has some complementary skillset that will remain valuable A spouse tends to have all of these. Hmm...
- sudosteph 5y ago
  Well, my spouse IS my current co-founder, so clearly I chose wisely.
  - xwdv 5y ago
    So you have a family business.

chadash 5y ago

"Among founders who do not do Engineering, 80% prefer a co-founder who does Engineering." I'm sure this familiar to any engineer on this site. "I have this great idea for an app, and I just need you to build it. We'll split the company 50/50."

corobo 5y ago
"Oh cool! Show me your business plan!"
yawnxyz 5y ago
At first I thought it'd be great to pick up engineering and say yes to some of these founders. After becoming a designer/engineer I've realized that most of these ideas take shape during the engineering process. And the process will in turn change and twist the idea itself based on customer interviews and iterative prototypes. The engineering process leads to better "ideas" that replace the initial ideas. But most non-engineer, first-time founders don't realize that's the case. The engineering process also pokes so many holes in the first idea, because they require the idea to actually be fleshed out... Maybe I'm just bitter about working with doe-eyed, non-technical first time "idea person" kind of founders.
anyfactor 5y ago
As a dev I entertain this idea on 4 criteria - 1. You are a veteran in the target industry. 2. You have connections and you are well-liked. 3. You can sell to those people. 4. There is a mutual trust and respect between us. If you know the industry inside out and you are willing to sell, I would have no problem to partner up. But usually those who are successful in an industry rarely have enough time to invest in a startup. People I want to partner up with are so busy managing their business, client and family, they will just end up having a custom software made with their money and try to sell that.
jillesvangurp 5y ago
Yep, it's worse actually. You rarely get offered anywhere near 50%. Over the years I've coached more than a few founders. Usually they come to me because they are looking for a CTO because they assume they need one. My #1 advice to companies like that is actually to not get a CTO unless they are a proper tech startup where the tech is what defines the company. Most startups simply aren't and they need skilled engineers rather than some CTO/propellor head. They need somebody that will build them an MVP and that is good at bringing in more tech people when growth happens. I have a few reasons for this: 1) the type of engineer that ends up taking that role is rarely proper CTO or even management material; or even very senior when it comes to engineering. It's a convenience marriage between a random tech person who happens to be available and some business people not really qualified to make tech hiring decisions. So, avoid that situation and get some doers involved and give them enough equity or cash to keep them motivated but without creating the illusion that they are there to do something else than executing your vision. 2) inevitably the moment comes where early CTOs not really suitable for the job need to be replaced (or simply walk away) if the company actually survives long enough. As a founder you need to be honest about how the company will evolve. And that often means getting some grown ups involved as soon as money allows for that; especially on the tech front. I've seen more than a few startups with very awkward CTO types getting a senior baby sitter in the form of a VP of engineering or something similar. 3) CTO is a vanity title in a startup. You can use it to up-sell to engineers their role in your company and sometimes you need to do that to keep them and get them to build your product. However, it often ends up looking a bit desperate when you hand it out to the first engineer willing to talk to you and it creates awkward situations when you later meet someone more suitable for the role. If you are a proper tech company it's different. You need such a company to be driven by a technical founder and such a company needs to be created primarily by technical founders. So, it would be unusual for such a company to be even looking for a CTO because that would indicate some serious issues with the founding team. They'd be looking for CMO/CSO/CEO types instead.

zalebz 5y ago

A few initial thoughts jump out at me: someone I respect in a domain of life I respect (could be music/athletics/relationships/humor/whatever but ultimately it is a reason I enjoy them as a person and in times of adversity can't dismiss them as a disposable generic employee) moreover, the above attribute also often demonstrates a healthy life balance outside of work, and this will help prevent workaholic burnout which is a very real pitfall ina startup someone that has motivation/ambition in a domain(s) that I do not (maybe I can do a particular skill and even at a competent level, but I'd rather have a partner that enjoys it and reads up about it in their spare time even if they aren't as "good" at that skill as I am right now) someone that has been challenged in life in some fashion. again the domain isn't as important as the experience of facing pressure/adversity and finding that extra gear within oneself to emerge. and furthermore then wanting to start the next challenge despite having already gone through the wringer. in my experience there are people who thrive under pressure and those that tend to hide/crumble when challenged. you obviously want the former and some that has been tested. there are plenty of other attributes that are covered by great replies that I won't repeat. I felt these seemed a bit distinct (at least when I posted) and worth mentioning

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

> 65% of founders do Product > 57% of founders do Operations > 52% of founders do Sales and Marketing > 37% of founders do Design > 31% of founders do Engineering > Engineers seem to be in high demand. Among founders who do not do Engineering, 80% prefer a co-founder who does Engineering. This mirrors what I've seen in every co-founder matching forum: A huge imbalance of soft skills over engineering experience. I'm sure some of those founders are extremely talented at product, operations, sales, and design. However, there are many others who fit the classic "idea guy" stereotype. One thing I've learned from using co-founder matchmaking services like this is how hard it is to tell the difference between the two types of founders from credentials alone. A striking number of the people with impressive resumes and FAANG backgrounds got there by mastering big company skills and working their way up the ladder and through interview processes. Eventually they conclude that a startup is just more of the same big skills but with them at the top of the org chart. Some of the most promising people I've talked to on these platforms had less traditionally impressive resumes. They didn't necessarily have Ivy League university backgrounds or FAANG companies on their resume. That's likely what led them to use these platforms in the first place: Smaller personal networks that necessitate reaching farther for potential co-founders. These services can be interesting, but it really feels like a numbers game. Be prepared to take a lot of conversations very quickly, don't let impressive credentials alone sway you, and don't get discouraged by the volume of negative matches.

mancerayder 5y ago
I'd like to comment here as a tech person that's moved into management. Not as a founder, but I've done consulting in the past and I've worked in all sized companies. As I've become less technical, I occasionally come across the highly technical, often almost genius-like engineer who fails to comprehend organizational structure and social structures. They fail to 'see' them, so sometimes decisions that you make as manager, or that the company makes, feel foreign to them. And so they often have cynical ideas (often found online) about companies, managers and so forth. While some of the cynical stuff can often be true, my point is this: the successful engineer is also someone with social skills, and that includes company skills as you put it. The person with pure ladder climbing skills is a fraud. But the person who can both be technical 'enough' and understand organizational and human structures can help things scale. What's missing from the conversation is Creativity, I think, or maybe it's me that's out of touch. Successful people seem to be ones that aren't afraid to take unique approaches to solving problems. Sometimes 'engineers' are highly talented but they're looking for blueprints and patterns to follow rather than create - and I am not talking about code.

wanderinghogan 5y ago

A tech-literate business person who is around the same life stage as me (or are sympathetic/able to work with people in different life stages), if I were looking.

dahart 5y ago

Having gone through it, I think the single most important things are missing. Your co-founder needs to have the same vision as you, they need to want the same outcome. And you don’t find out that you want different outcomes for a long time, it’s very very easy in the beginning to agree you both want a successful company, for your software to be awesome, and for money to roll in. Later when things get real, you may discover your shared vision isn’t quite as shared as you thought. The other thing I want in a co-founder is someone who will have my back unflinchingly and always when speaking to others, whether it’s investors or customers or just friends and family, because inevitably things will come up that worry you which can sow mistrust if not caught quickly. I was lucky to have such a co-founder, and I actually feel guilty for worrying that they didn’t always support me. I tried to return the trust at all times. But note that discovering differing visions can and does threaten your ability to know if a co-founder trusts you! I think it’s a miracle that companies survive, knowing how easy it is for people to want different things.

Graffur 5y ago

Someone nice, eager, available, smart and driven

earksiinni 5y ago

I signed up for the platform as an engineer looking for non-engineers. Unlike some of the engineer types here, I'm of the opinion that engineering is as important (not more important) than non-technical skill sets. In some startups, it's probably less important. The problem is that the profiles I match with read like resumes. I don't care too much that you were early employee at XYZ Corp or that you had a successful $100m exit. I care about your heart. I've cofounded too many times with cofounders whose worldview, politics, and level of emotional empathy and openness were incompatible with mine. It sucked every time and was the #1 cause for failure. Sometimes I feel like a vox clamantis in deserto when it comes to advocating for founders with higher emotional awareness. I'm happy whenever I read posts on HN about why neurodiversity matters in tech, but they almost always focus on folks on the spectrum. Then there are folks like me, oftentimes survivors of abuse who are neuro-atypical in a different way. We are empaths--and very much not fitting in the mold of a "typical" engineer or how non-engineers perceive typical engineers. I don't need a fellow empath as a co-founder, but at least I need someone who understands where I'm coming from and is compatible. Brag sheets tend to drive me away, but that's the ethos we've built into our industry, so I don't blame the individuals.

what_is_orcas 5y ago
Fellow engineer here who cares about the same things you report here. Did you just give up (using that platform)? Did you find a better platform?
- earksiinni 5y ago
  I didn't give up per se, but I'm not actively checking it, either. Sometimes I get emails about matches, which I read. Haven't found any that clicked so far. Right now, though, I'm going through a phase where I'm doubting whether I want to do a startup at all. Still fully onboard for entrepreneurship, but I'm questioning whether the startup path (especially the VC path) is right for my goals. I am, however, interested in making organic connections with like-minded individuals. Perhaps like right here, in the comments of HN ;-)
  - 5y ago

dasil003 5y ago

You know in 20+ years of founding and working at a bunch of different startups and companies ranging from big companies in fly-over country, to team-of-2 bootstrapped 6-figure businesses, and all the way up to super hot pre-IPO unicorns; one thing I've learned is that great people that you gel with and might want to start a company with are everywhere in equal proportions. Sure, there are probably slightly more of them in Silicon Valley, but also SV is full of wannabes who are playing house, so the signal to noise ratio is actually less. I feel any kind co-founder dating suffers from the exact same thing. YC's name gives it more legitimacy, but that very fact attracts more dedicated wannabes who are just playing house harder. Ultimately after all these years I keep coming back to Joel Spolsky's idea of working with people who are "smart and get things done". That's it. I am skeptical I will find someone I want to work with on a co-founder dating site, because the people I want to work with are too busy trying to do a thing with the resources available to them versus looking for a longshot silver bullet. There are exceptions of course, but this is just my gut instinct, you might take it with a grain of salt since I waste a lot of time commenting on HN :)

mikepurvis 5y ago
Completely agree. I'm an employee right now, but if I were ever looking for a co-founder, my shortlist would be the people I've worked with, hacking together some random project at all hours.
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codegeek 5y ago
I have been on the y combinator co-founder portal and so far, it has not been that great. Most people either don't respond or if they do, they are really mostly interested in their own ideas and I know the irony of saying this because I have my own ideas. I really believe that finding a co-founder is almost impossible to plan but it is more of an accident. Unless you have worked with someone for a while and know their strengths and weaknesses, no site can solve this problem. Having said this, if you have a great co-founder, you truly are very lucky because I know how lonely it gets as a solo founder.

weezin 5y ago

Someone good at things I suck at.

costcofries 5y ago

I think the answer is usually, someone who has skills that you don't. When I think about looking for a co-founder, I know what specific skills I am looking for, there is a gap, this second person would fill that gap. Some other thoughts: - Specific skill set (what is their expertise) - Values alignment - Ways of working (work life balance, etc) - Communication style - Conflict resolution and disagreement management

boulos 5y ago

Fwiw, the survey design missed an important aspect of "don't care about location": most people are probably assuming a lot of time zone overlap. So they might say "don't care about location" (true in some sense), but wouldn't have said "Yes! Sign me up for a 12-hour time difference!".

mrkramer 5y ago

A friend who is ready to help and who will not leave me when difficult times come.

WalterBright 5y ago

I want them to have the leet business skillz I don't have. I don't want a clone of myself with the same strengths and faults.

giantg2 5y ago

This sounds like a cool service. I wish I had more time and skills to make a profile.

sam0x17 5y ago

Technical founders who have decided to take on bizdev stuff in this role but know what they're talking about when it comes to the tech stack are an incredible asset. Nothing better than an ex-engineer as a COO/CEO/etc

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austincheney 5y ago

What I would want is a magical personality. I am the introverted engineer type. I believe am well versed in listening but I don’t have the willpower to listen to endless word vomit. I want to get shit done. My magical cofounder would be somebody slightly extroverted. Somebody who loves to go to parties, mingle, and form relationships. Somebody who views relationships as another form of engineering problem they are eager to solve and dazzle. When I say dazzle I mean impress and not bullshit. Everybody seemed impressed by Elizabeth Holmes but her motivational mantras, like going all in without a backup plan always felt like a hollow lie, even far before she was exposed. I couldn’t work with anybody like that.

jokethrowaway 5y ago

You can probably get away with not having the perfect product from a technical point of view (or even a platform built by amateurs which will spectacularly explode later on), but how are you going to sell it? From my experience, having good sales (by which I mean, a good selling / marketing strategy, not necessarily going door to door) will make or break early stage startups. Maybe people in SV don't care because they can get funding more easily?

nomdep 5y ago

A product already immensely profitable and a very generous hearth. Beyond that, a trusted friend with similar goals and complementary skills.