Ask HN: Does anyone know a site that let's you search for a co founder?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=623912

by mat3 • 17 years ago

13 22 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Like a monster.com but specifically for people who are interested in cofounding a startup.

vaksel• 17 years ago

http://collabfinder.com/

SingAlong2• 17 years ago

hey! thanks for that link.

CollabFinder seems good. I just signed up. The message boards seem to be filled too. nice!

But I think someone should come up with a site for entrepreneurs/developers/designers like speed-dating. Maybe based on online chat... like just keep changing the person you are chatting with every 5 min. That's like giving a person 5 minutes to explain himself and understand the other and hit it off. :)

mat34• 17 years ago

I really like your idea of speed dating idea applied to cofounders.

arfrank• 17 years ago

I think the best way might be to post here looking for someone with free time and an interest.

Anyway, I happen to meet that description and have been looking for something new to start. I have a few ideas floating around in my head, shoot me an email if your interested.

mat34• 17 years ago

Are you in the bay area?

Also what's your area of expertise: developer/designer/marketing etc

mine is engineering/product

bkudria• 17 years ago

Try http://younoodle.com

mojombo• 17 years ago

Yeah, it's called the local user's group for the technology of your choice.

gruseom• 17 years ago

Worked for me.

dfranke2• 17 years ago

http://partnerup.com, but beware incessant customer retention spam.

mat34• 17 years ago

The problem with http://collabfinder.com/, http://programmermeetdesigner.com/, http://cofoundr.com, http://partnerup.com is that they seem like job boards. I'm not looking for an employee to execute my idea.

I want to discuss ideas with them and agree together on what we want to work on.

I'm looking for a co founder who is willing to share some of risk of founding a startup. They may contribute capital, programming skills, design skills, but it's really the startup mindset that's most important. That's what makes them different from an employee.

dfranke2• 17 years ago

I think these sorts of sites are the best you're going to do if you nobody you already know fits the bill and hence you and your potential cofounder are starting out as strangers. The qualities that you're (rightly) looking for are much more easily selected for among people that you already know personally. Meatspace is your best bet, news.yc is a distant second, and partnerup and the like are third.

daveambrose• 17 years ago

If you're in the NYC area next week, stop by Hackers & Founders: http://anyvite.com/events/home/vnq9pdylxo

DTrejo• 17 years ago

Hacker News: attend the meetups in your area, talk on #startups, be sociable, Ask HN.

coopr• 17 years ago

How does one "ask HN" to find a co-founder in a way that is acceptable to this community? Can I really make a post saying something like "My early-stage, pre-funding, revenue-generating startup is looking for a technical co-founder"? I thought that sort of post wasn't allowed here, except by Y Combinator companies?

bkrausz• 17 years ago

http://news.ycombinator.com ?

mallipeddi• 17 years ago

http://cofoundr.com

invisible• 17 years ago

This one seems decent (aside from collabfinder): http://programmermeetdesigner.com/

Really, it's hard to make a commitment without doing some side projects with an individual or KNOWING them. There are a lot of ways to get scared.

mahmud• 17 years ago

FWIW: Keep the "cofounders" to a minimum, my choice is ONE. This is not for greed but for focus and unity in vision. Feel free to offer people all the perks you want, but try to keep the steering-wheel in as few hands as possible.

[Edit: I can understand why a VC might be interested in having multiple cofounders, and aside from the obvious diversity in opinion, VCs might also be interested in having a team that might be easier to break up at the right point; paying out the least interested cofounder early leaves more for them. If you're self-funded hire others.]

medianama• 17 years ago

very good point. I am surprised by the emphasis people (VCs/YC) put on multiple co-founders. I think it increases the risk of company failing because co-founders didn't get along well at a later stage.

jasonlbaptiste• 17 years ago

I feel you can't force co-founders or look at it from a traditional standpoint. It just happens. No exact formula. Hacker News probably works best so far for this: whether it's a hacker or biz focused co-founder.

Ask HN: Does anyone know a site that let's you search for a co founder?

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