HN user
Original Developer here. This started as a project through the Ohio State University Social Innovation and Commercialization center. After proving the beta test it was finished by the Tony Wells foundation.
Really great to see this project out in the world.
It's awesome to see companies that came out of the startup scene in Cincinnati doing so well.
There are two options and they both sound kind of cliched. 1)
1) The first is two find some way to "hack" together a product yourself. This can be as simple as a "demo" in keynote/powerpoint or something that you can show off to investors as the product initially. Or if you are in a service business, perform the service manually for a few customers (run it from a spreadsheet) and prove the need before plunging into full fledged development. Both of those will most likely also reduce the time-footprint of your development
2) A lot of accelerators seem to be accepting pre-product companies these days and I think this is the strength of a lot of the accelerators is to get you into the product stage. These could be a viable option if you have one in your area
I completely agree. People need to approach with "What do you think about this idea" not "I've got an idea and now I just need someone to build it". Thats a quick way for me to decide rather there will be a follow-up conversation when I'm being "courted" by someone with an idea.
Thanks for the link I'm checking it out now. You're right about there needing to be more detail than just pictures for a coders portfolio. I'll try out the blog format. Thanks!
I think there is so much room for discussion here, being in a company thats decided to stay and plant roots here in Ohio I hope to be able to add to this conversation soon. I just don't have that information yet. Either way, great post.