Ask HN: I need a co-founder Where do i start?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2228344

by sammville • 15 years ago

4 18 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am 18 years old and a student in university. I have built 3 web apps in the past and allowed them to die because of school work. I build web apps because i love coding (hobby). I recently built poplytics.com and still working on it but i don't want it to die off. I have no idea how to market it and do customer development. I have had a bad run with bloggers when trying to get them to review my service.

How do i get a cofounder who would focus on marketing? Advice pls..

EricR9• 15 years ago

Maybe it's time to network. I'm about your age too and I also develop web apps. Does your university have a marketing program? Maybe you could get connected with some other students who are interested in marketing and your idea.

sammville8• 15 years ago

I am a pharmacy student so it is not easy to network with other students with the bulk of work i have to do. I would check for the marketing program. Hope they have

andrewstuart• 15 years ago

http://www.google.com/search?q=cofounder+site:news.ycombinat...

sagacity• 15 years ago

I agree; one of your best bets would be right here.

clayturk• 15 years ago

I would be interested in having a conversation with you about this.

sammville8• 15 years ago

Hey DM me your email on twitter @sammville or send me a mail sam[@]poplytics.com

nyellin• 15 years ago

Not what you are asking for, but you should add some screenshots to poplytics.com. I don't want to sign up for something before I can see what it does.

sammville8• 15 years ago

Thanks for that. I had a tour page but pulled it because most people did not like it. Working on a new version of poplytics which would have a new tour page.

T-hawk• 15 years ago

How did your previous ones "die"? Software is not mortal. Why can't your past web apps be product material for a startup? Did you just lose interest?

You may not like this answer, but the actual hacking and coding is a very small part of launching an independent software company. Your "marketing cofounder" is really in for more like 90% of the work. If all you want to do is code, well, you're in competition with millions of coders worldwide who are willing and able to work more cheaply.

patio11, one of HN's most respected members and best contributors, makes his living on a product that he himself characterizes as "hello world hooked up to a random number generator." His business building was all in figuring out and optimizing AdWords and email responders and the payment pages and logos and colors and so on. Does that truly hold your interest to dive into?

sammville8• 15 years ago

Thanks for the advice. The main problem is i lose interest when it does not pick up. Usually just move on to the next new business opportunity. My goals for this year was to launch 2 web apps and make sure they are promoted. After trying for a while without any good i decided the best way was to get someone who is excellent at marketing.

arctangent• 15 years ago

Strongly agree.

Back when I was running my own consultancy I had this belief that if I made something "cool" then it would become a hit almost (as I understand now, in retrospect) by magic. And it was easy to just move on to something else when the magic didn't work.

I've spent some time working in a bureaucratic organisation for nearly 3 years now and, despite all the obvious downsides, this has been a positive experience because I now think I have more of a "business head" to think with. (The regular salary helps a lot too!)

Coming up with ideas for web apps is, I think, fairly easy for the the type of person who hangs out here on HN. Not all of those ideas will be good, of course, but one in ten might be. It's probably also very easy for you to make the damn thing.

But the only way to ensure you give an idea its best shot is to really stick at it and spend a lot of time and effort on the things that don't traditionally come easily to us programmer-types: marketing, design, sales, customer support.

Disclaimer: I make hardly a penny from stuff I've made in the past (and I've abandoned more ideas than I care to remember) but I'd like to think that my work experience (and the experiences shared by fellow HN members) will help me ensure my next venture is more successful.

sammville8• 15 years ago

I had that same idea at a point in time. I decided that i wasn't just going to build but make sure people use it. I have people using my web app which is encouraging but not enough for me to be happy to continue development. It might be too early to determine that. Marketing is easy to say but really hard and frustrating to do.

HelgeSeetzen2• 15 years ago

Why are you studying pharmacy if you love coding?

It will be very hard to reconcile school, hobby and actual entrepreneurship when they are all in diverging areas (and "coding" has very little to do with entrepreneurship). My advise would be to find better alignment in your activities. Otherwise you will end up doing all three just well enough to fail.

For example, you could do an internship in a bioinformatics start-up. Learn about entrepreneurship, network and still get to practice your interests/skills - all in one shot. Not everything has to be about Web2.0...

sammville8• 15 years ago

I really love your advice. I have tried really well in aligning them to extent where i have no time for regular activities, friends e.t.c... You got me thinking now!

HelgeSeetzen2• 15 years ago

I have been in your shoes: At the peak in 2007 I was a full time PhD student (Physics, CS & EE), full time startup founder/exec (35 staff, acquired in 2007) and new father (child born on acquisition day - no kidding). Without really strong alignment (and great colleagues in both arenas) this would have torn me apart.

Don't set yourself up for failure from day one by shooting in all directions. If pharmacy is your passion then try to weave it into all your activities. Always remember, Web2.0 entrepreneurship accounts for 99% of online buzz but less than 30% of actual investment activity. In fact, biotech is currently the largest investment and M&A sector if memory serves from the last PWC Moneytree report. If you like coding then by all means code, but don't feel like the only possible entrepreneurial experience comes from hacking websites.

Disclaimer: I am not a biotech guy, nor am I saying that Web2.0 ventures aren't a good choice. They are just not the only choice.

At the risk of breaking some kind of HN rule, I have a bit more info on how to achieve such alignment on an old blog post: http://bit.ly/hJmCEQ

moses1400• 15 years ago

where are you located? there are meetups specifically setup to help you find a co-founder in austin tomorrow night and in nyc next week http://www.centernetworks.com/co-founder-meetup-nyc-austin

sammville8• 15 years ago

Too bad i am not in the US. I stay in the UK.

Ask HN: I need a co-founder Where do i start?

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