3 ms·

Ask HN: How do technical cofounders find teams to join?

• ypg 14y ago
  In my experience, the best way would be to get a list of startups that have / are planning to participate in one of the top startup incubators. This would include (and probably be limited to) Y Combinator, TechStars, and DreamIt ventures (unless you're looking at a specific startup niche). The application process will filter out people who aren't serious. The downside is that they might not be willing to give up as much equity if there already is a decently large team. Grad programs at the top CS / Engineering schools (Stanford, CMU, MIT, Berkeley, U of Illinois) are also filled with people who are looking to start companies, and most have mailing lists / message boards for opportiunities. There is a real talent in business, but it seems to be more of a personality disposition as opposed to a tangible skillset. At least for undergraduate programs, business tends to be less rigorous than their technical equivalents. Most of the "build my crappy idea" people are purely non-technical, because they have less insight into what is feasible, and because by their nature they are completely reliant on others to build it. My disposition is to go for somebody who is technical, is socially "with it", and has the drive to hustle and learn whatever else they need to know. By the way, I graduated CS from CMU undergrad a couple of years ago, and I'm working on a startup of my own. The startup is called Pensieve, and it is a publishing platform for interactive courses. I've been flying solo for a couple of months, and now I'm looking for some late-cofounders and build a real team. If you're interested, send me a message at yush [at] pensieve [NOSPAM] [dot] net.
• charleshaanel 14y ago
  Find someone who has an audience already. Audience that trusts founder = lifetime customers.