Why you can('t) recruit a technical co-founder

http://blog.launchbit.com/why-you-cant-recruit-a-technical-cofounder

by hippo33 • 15 years ago

20 14 15 years ago

blog.launchbit.com

hippo336• 15 years ago

This blog post has the results of the survey we posted a couple wks ago:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2256293

Thanks so much for all your help.

mindcrime2• 15 years ago

Can we just "sticky" this to the top of HN, as a perpetual answer to the (seemingly) daily "How to find a technical co-founder" thread?

Seriously though, that was good stuff. Now how about a survey that goes the other way? One that's directed towards technical types who are looking for a non-technical co-founder (that is, a "the sales / marketing / bizdev guy" type.)

hippo336• 15 years ago

thanks mindcrime -- hmm, I'd never thought about that. Are people have trouble finding non-technical co-founders? (good sales / BD?)

mindcrime2• 15 years ago

Not sure about "having trouble," but I'll say that - in my own experience - it isn't necessarily easy. I've been trawling for a sales/marketing/bizdev guy for a few months now and haven't had a whole lot of success finding anybody. But, to be fair, I haven't tried that hard yet. But still, some insights into what it takes to tempt a sales/marketing/bizdev guy into a startup would be useful... at least, I know I'd find it useful, and I'm guessing there are at least a handful of others who would as well.

Of course I'm a little outside what seems to be the norm here... I'm not building a consumer centric webapp or mobile app; I'm working on enterprise software and stuff that is sold through direct sales & face-to-face selling. Maybe nobody else cares about that stuff. :-)

extension• 15 years ago

People have trouble finding good ones. It took some hard experience early in my career to learn that I should be as picky as that article describes about who I do business with.

orenmazor• 15 years ago

maybe in NYC or SF it's easier, but where I am (Ottawa), I'm finding big-business/gov sucks up all the non-technical people. So I end up being a technical guy either on my own, or pitching other technical guys.

lolizbak• 15 years ago

Reminds me of the post by Mark Suster => invest in lines, not in dots : http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/11/15/invest-in-line...

I think it goes the same way for (co)founders: partner in lines, not in dots. Your relationship with potential cofounders shouldn't start the day you're looking for one.

hippo336• 15 years ago

Very true!

Why you can('t) recruit a technical co-founder

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