Some would say that this article is harsh; I suspect that it's actually often far worse in reality. That is, I routinely get asked by "founders" who the best Ra

Some would say that this article is harsh; I suspect that it's actually often far worse in reality. That is, I routinely get asked by "founders" who the best Rails developers in the room are, and they will then proceed to rudely interrupt them from technical discussions and offer them 1-2% equity to build their vague concept from the ground up. This is insulting to everyone involved, even the "founder". (I keep air-quoting "founder" because these days everyone is a "founder" in the same way everyone with a Digital Rebel XTi is a "photographer". Meanwhile, none of my developer friends would ever refer to themselves as a "hacker" outside of technical circles that understand you don't mean you hack the Pentagon.) Someone in this community could/should set up a site with an obvious URL that serves as a checklist for what someone who wants to be a hustler/product girl should have in order before approaching a technical individual: - be able to coherently relay the meat of a concept in 5-10 words - demonstrate how they plan to fund it and be prepared to explain what they are putting up - explain where they are at in their efforts to learn basic coding - show that they have done research into competition and bonus points for real customer development - wireframes or mockups, preferably presented with the disclaimer that you're excited to see how your input will change and improve their concept Likewise, there can be a second URL that developers can hand out that will save the same purpose as "rejection line" numbers that girls give to lame guys in clubs. You can tell a founder who isn't taking a hint to contact you and it will explain why they are wasting both of your time.