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Who said the point of a partner is to help you find an idea? The point of the partner is to force you to explain your idea with enough clarity and detail that y

Who said the point of a partner is to help you find an idea? The point of the partner is to force you to explain your idea with enough clarity and detail that you realize how much it sucks. Then you look for a slightly different idea. ;) No question, you can work on your idea without a partner. That's the problem. You'll risk spending dozens or hundreds of hours on your pet project before showing it to anyone with the incentive and the social position to tell you that it won't work. Your friends won't do that. They like you. They don't want to hurt your feelings. Worse, when you do find out that your idea doesn't work, you might become despondent. Too despondent to notice that all you need is a few tiny tweaks and suddenly things will be fixed. But there's nobody to help you find those tweaks, because nobody else understands the project. Your friends and loved ones don't get it. It's just you, alone with your problem. By the time you get ahold of yourself and get sober enough to realize that your project is salvageable, days or weeks might have gone by. You can try to be objective about your own work. But be warned: Not only is it likely to be less effective, but it's torture. It's the source of the emotional roller coaster that entrepreneurs so often complain about -- the one where you're euphoric one minute and despondent the next.

Tawheed 17y ago
The problem I hear you describing is "I'm not sure if I can make a sound business out of this product idea." And your solution of "get a partner" seems rather flawed to me. I think it's just an excuse that a bunch of people have made up because it's easy to find another guy that you can sell your vision to and get him to get on board. Whereas, what you are really looking for in a great "partner" is really a "customer" that is willing to pay! Because think about it, if your real problem is the question of whether you can create a real business, then wouldn't finding that first customer that is literally willing to pay you for your idea (monetarily or through time and advice) a much better avenue? On top of that, there is also that assumption that your partner will have the necessary skills to somehow solve you "do I have enough of a business" problem; which isn't a guarantee either! Technically, you're both going to be dumb shits. At the end of it, I think failures and co-relation to # of founders is completely wrong. It all comes down to whether you have the discipline to think about operating a business, and the ability to a) understand your weaknesses and b) find leverage in compensating for it.

Tawheed 17y ago

The problem I hear you describing is "I'm not sure if I can make a sound business out of this product idea." And your solution of "get a partner" seems rather flawed to me. I think it's just an excuse that a bunch of people have made up because it's easy to find another guy that you can sell your vision to and get him to get on board. Whereas, what you are really looking for in a great "partner" is really a "customer" that is willing to pay! Because think about it, if your real problem is the question of whether you can create a real business, then wouldn't finding that first customer that is literally willing to pay you for your idea (monetarily or through time and advice) a much better avenue? On top of that, there is also that assumption that your partner will have the necessary skills to somehow solve you "do I have enough of a business" problem; which isn't a guarantee either! Technically, you're both going to be dumb shits. At the end of it, I think failures and co-relation to # of founders is completely wrong. It all comes down to whether you have the discipline to think about operating a business, and the ability to a) understand your weaknesses and b) find leverage in compensating for it.