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Ask HN: Interested in news? Network bureau chief just described a service he wants...
I recently had lunch with a bureau chief at a major network who wanted to pick my brain about "what's new in online news." We had a great conversation and at one point he described a specific problem he's dealing with and the sort of solution he'd be interested in.
I made a fairly crude but functional demo using open source stuff (took about a day) to show the guy and he liked what he saw. I showed it to some independent publishers and prominent bloggers here in Chicago and they caught me off guard by immediately asking what it would cost to subscribe.
I'd like to move forward with this, but not by myself. Though I meet PG's "animal" criteria, I'm a designer/frontend guy whose background is in journalism (hence my connections).
I think the way forward would be to get 1-2 more cofounders with technical backgrounds and to dedicate a few months to seeing what we can put together, perhaps apply for funding, figure out a pricing model and start selling subscriptions. If it's got legs, great! If not, OK, we gave it a try.
Anyone interested in talking about this? Anyone know any devs who might be interested? I've read all the previous posts where people ask for co-founders and get ridiculed for "doing it wrong." I'm looking for honest to goodness co-founders who'd get an appropriate share of the credit and equity. I've found a bit of an opportunity but am unable to exploit it by myself.
- andr 18y agoSo what is the idea?
- brandnewlow 18y agoAh. If you're interested, I'd be happy to explain via e-mail.
- tocomment 18y agoI'm intrigued. Could you email me? Email in profile.
- brandnewlow 18y agoI see a URL only. Is there an e-mail on the page it leads to?
- andr 18y agoMy email is also in my profile.
- brandnewlow 18y agoJust wrote you.
- andreyf 18y agoInterested, could you explain, please? E-mail is fedorov@rutgers.edu (also in profile)
- brandnewlow 18y agodone. thanks
- mixmax 18y agoI love your very candid and honest way of explaining where you are and what you need. Good luck with finding partners - hope you succeed.
- brandnewlow 18y agoThanks. Yeah, I don't know what else to do other than to lay out the situation and see what people make of it. I'm currently working away on another news-related start-up by myself...and the "by myself" part is proving just as troublesome as everyone says. An opportunity of some kind is there, I'd like to find a few people who want to take a crack at it with me.
- maxklein 18y agoHow about $1600 a month + 5% for 6 months instead? Sounds like that would be a better deal for both parties.
- brandnewlow 18y agomax. If that's the way forward, then I'm open to an arrangement like that. My first concern with that though, is that it sounds like an employee, not a co-founder. I've been working on a project as a solo founder for about 5 months now, and not having anyone else to turn to when I'm out of gas is just brutal. My worry would be that an arrangment like this would create a hired gun mentality. I'm not looking for an employee to supervise. I'm looking for someone with skills that compliment my own to lean on as we explore an opportunity.
- maxklein 18y agoThe problem you are facing is that if you find anyone, this person is not motivated by a burning passion for your idea, whatever it is, but for financial gain. You are partnering with someone who is motivated by money, but who does not have any ideas of his own. In my opinion, this is an inherently risky co-founder. What if a better opportunity comes along? What happens when times get tough? You can only found a company with someone who either completely believes in the idea and who will stick with the idea when times get tough, or someone who is secure and will do the work, and hopes for a payout in the end, but for whom the payout is not important. The middle-road - cofounding with someone who just cares about the financial aspect of it, is a very risky thing. You'll lose the person quickly. In any case, you have an idea, and you have a concept. When you co-found with someone, who makes the final decision? What happens when there is a disagreement and the other guy decides to fork your project? It's not that easy to co-found.
- brandnewlow 18y agoThis is very helpful, useful stuff. As I said, I'm open to discussing arrangements like this, whatever will make the most sense. Ideally I'd find someone who's also passionate about the project and not just potential payout, of course, but we'll see where things lead. Let me know if you're interested.
- noodle 18y agoi'd be potentially interested in talking/helping. most people get ridiculed when asking for co-founders because the tone of their requests are "hi, this is my startup and i need a developer to flesh it out for me". an actual co-founder is not simply a code money sitting down and banging out someone else's idea.
- brandnewlow 18y agoJust wrote you. Thanks.
- luminousbit 18y agoThis sounds really intriguing to me and I would love to get involved. Would you mind contacting me to talk more? My e-mail is drew -DOT- blas [AT] gmail
- brandnewlow 18y agojust wrote you.
- steveplace 18y agoI'd like to hear about it. Email is in my profile.
- amidemimic 18y agoI'm intrigued as well. Please email me at amide [at] yat.ch Thanks
- brandnewlow 18y agojust wrote you
- brandnewlow 18y agojust wrote you.
- haidut 18y agoI am interested as well. My email is haidut (-at-) gmail DOT com thx
- brandnewlow 18y agojust wrote you. Thanks.
- presty 18y agowhy not just throw the idea out to the public instead of going through an email sharing process?
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- brandnewlow 18y agoDone. Cheers.
- nir 18y agoCurious to hear about it - email in profile. Cheers
- brandnewlow 18y agoDon't see an e-mail there or on your blog. Feedvolley looks interesting!
- nir 18y agoThanks, and sorry for the confusion - niryariv at gmail.com
- plaggypig 18y agoI'd certainly like to hear more about it - can you contact me? Email address is in my profile.
- brandnewlow 18y agoI don't see it in there.
- plaggypig 18y agoSorry, I must have removed it - it's there now.
- brandnewlow 18y agoe-mail = sent!
- btw0 18y agoPlease email me, address in profile.
- brandnewlow 18y agodone.
- vikram 18y agoI'm curious. Could you email me? Email in profile.
- brandnewlow 18y agoE-mailed you.
- gnikides 18y agoAs a former journalist I'd like to hear more. Please email me (profile).
- brandnewlow 18y agoit's not in your profile.
- gnikides 18y agoApologies. gnikides (-at-) yahoo DOT com
- veritas 18y agoCurious, as always. My email is in my profile :)
- brandnewlow 18y agodone.
- brandnewlow 18y agoPlease send inquiries directly to me. My e-mail is in my profile. Thanks for all your interest. It sounds like it might even be possible to pull a few minds together to bash this out pretty quickly and see if it'll fly or not.
- rodrigo 18y agoIm interested, losdosplebitos -at- gmail , thanks.