tech-company, partnershipI know this seems like a very straight forward question, but I’ve had an unbelievably hard time finding a programmer.
When I say this I mean someone willing to become partners and not the generic dev company’s littering craigslist. Id prefer to have someone to lives near me of course. I’m from Pittsburgh, and with CMU here its not like there is a shortage of potential programmers. I’ve tried placing ads on a few different sites, but there really isn’t any site just for finding potential programming partners(free start up idea).
Maybe its best to find them in person?
I haven’t gotten desperate enough to start stalking people at CMU, but it might have to come to that. What really seems to turn off them is the idea of partnership. I cant even get to discussing my idea with out them getting scared of by this.
I think what may be the issue–and I’m speaking very generally–most programmers don’t have that entrepreneurial drive. Its the ones that do that are hard to come by. Anyway, Id like to hear your thoughts and tips on finding and attracting a programmer willing to become partners.
Are you really looking for a partner?
I have lots of ideas I would love someone to turn into software. And sure, whoever does that can have a piece of the company. But I don’t have a line of developers queueing at the door. And whatever my credentials, that’s as it should be.
An idea could take ten minutes to set out, or it could have taken me months of painstaking work. Whichever way it is, that’s done. But creating the software to express that idea won’t be ten minutes, most likely it will be a chunk of time to hack together buggy v1, then a long period of getting closer to the idea, while the idea chases off after customers who react differently.
I could hire a team to write the software for me. That’s awesome, because then I own it. But then I think through that dynamic and realise, I’m going to spend a lot of money, with no guarantee that it ever pays back, and with nobody in my corner.
So the idea of a partnership is a good one. But a real partner isn’t someone who’ll build your idea into a system, but someone who’ll share and improve your idea. And if that’s the case, there’s a big question about what you’ll bring to the team going forward. If it’s just the idea, forget it. If it’s the idea and money, maybe. If it’s the idea and evidence that you are going to be effective as the front end of the business, we have a conversation.
What’s my advice? I have a three step training program for you.
First, relax. The frustration you’re feeling is natural, but misplaced.
Second, find a smaller, simpler idea - one that sounds interesting could be hacked together in a weekend. (You may need to get to know some engineers to get an idea of what’s easy and what’s hard.)
Third, sign up to a Startup Weekend or similar. Pitch your idea, and if you get a team including engineering, go with it. If not, join a team that has engineers and needs skills you can offer. Then enjoy the ride. Learn what it’s like to be part of a team with just one goal for an intense period of time, and to imagine that the weekend is going to turn into a startup.
That’s it. You have now arrived at a point where you have meaningful experience and a network of people who’ve been part of the same event. Spend more time with that crowd and the opportunities to partner will start to shape.
Good luck. I hope you create something awesome!
Although I think Taiko’s answer is right on the mark, his answer is all over the place, so I am going to give it a go myself as well.
First of all you need to understand there are two types of programmers:
The first group will likely either have the financial freedom to pursue their own ideas, or they don’t. If they do not they will, like the second group, just wish to work under someone. On the other hand, if they are they will build whatever they dream up and then try to sell it. A lot of them will along the road tell their friends about what they’re building and land a partnership that way (and an equal number just does everything on their own, though that doesn’t work out well often).
Which brings us to a couple of other points:
So, in conclusion, my sincere advice is to give up looking. This might sound harsh, but really, I doubt you’re going to find one in any active way except if your idea is really really good and/or you luck out on finding somebody who is in an abnormal position (e.g. I myself need a partner to keep me focused long term). If you believe enough in your idea I would instead start looking for ways to hire a programmer… and then it often happens that instead of hiring them they turn into a partner, but by that point you either secured funding or are willing to invest that much money in your own idea ‘proving’ in many ways that your idea is more solid than most.
PS. Not to say that going to meetups won’t mean you end up finding a lot more interest for your idea. Though it could just as well happen that a programmer hears your idea and runs with it. After all, does he truly need you.
(Here I assume that you’re still at school and you’re not a programmer yourself. A business background CEO looking for a CTO)
To find a programmer co founder, there is two steps. Meet him. The convince him.
Meet him
You do want to meet people in person, not through Craigslist, because they’ll be with you for a long long time, so you need a good human contact first.
Hit for your friends first, because you know you have good contact with them already (even though there is trade offs with working with friends, but that’s another topic)
If you don’t have CTO friends, go to geeky entrepreneurial events.
Startup weekend, startup grind, any kind of hackathons.
Where programmers will go for fun.
Then there’s the next step, the hardest one.
Convincing him
Programmers with an entrepreneurial spirit will make their own ideas first.
Here’s the scenario they fear the most (making them know it won’t happen will help in letting them join you) :
It’s been 6 month of hard work for them. You haven’t started doing growth hacking yet (waiting for the product to be finished right?), you did some UI and UX, basically letting them do the boring part of the job and constraining them to make the product like you want it to be.
The app’s finally out and it doesn’t go viral. It’s crippled with bugs, people don’t like it and criticizes it a lot.
Then you think it’s the programmer’s fault and leave. Throwing away 6 months of both of you’s best years.
I’ve seen this story happen over and over again.
How to 1-Prevent this from happening, 2-Make them understand it won’t
First things first, read “Lean Startup” (don’t just hear about it, actually read it) you’ll know that you first contact with customers will be painful, it’s totally normal.
Try to make it happen as early as possible (even without an actual app) and keep going no matter the result.
Then, prove your co-founders that you believe in your project and won’t run away.
For example, put 5000 bucks as a capital, and ask him to do the same, equally split the shares (or at least close). Then use the capital to pay him only (CEOs makes the most sacrifices).
Or start growth hacking right away, gathering signups will show him that people are interested in your ideas.
It’s easy to prove that you are a good programmer, but it’s much harder to prove that you are a good CEO, you need to show some results first or they’ll rather be their own CEO.
Don’t get me wrong though, of course a good CEO is solid gold for a startup and a bad programmer can ruin a project. But it’s just much harder to prove your CEO skills.
You might be able to find a co-founder at CoFoundersLab. I've been on there in hopes of finding a non-technical co-founder.
However, the advice I keep hearing is that doing a startup with a partner you don't know well is not a good idea.
I'd suggest watching the "Do you need a cofounder for your startup?" episode of This Week In Startups.
It’s very different if you’re looking for a founder vs an employee. A founder will either be independently wealthy, have enough money to get through a launch, or work on it as a side project. This applies to technical and non-technical people.
A technical founder can be /very/ hard to find. And generally, they will want equal or better input into technical decisions.
A programmer is not a technical founder, but a technical founder is almost always a programmer. Maybe you’re looking in the wrong places. I would start with social gatherings, and try to get recommendations.
If you have a non technical background, you may want to find someone to help with the process.
Either way, make it very clear up front what they’re getting into, and trust them once they’re in.
I am a programmer. I want to make a fortune in business. But I can also make good money (not the aforementioned fortune) contracting as a programmer. Or I can get a day job and a good pay packet.
I have spent a considerable amount of time on side projects. I learnt a lot from developing projects on the side although it took up a lot of my time and sometimes it has been a PITA. Nevertheless, I always had the wage to fall back on so far.
I have also entered into a partnership thinking it might be what I want but realising it is not and actually I am a service provider with benefits.
Most people who aren’t programmers don’t understand anything about programming. What they usually have is an idea. They want the idea to come to being in its idealised form. A programmer on the other hand needs specific details. Really they need a designer, UX, too to be able to handle that side of things. A programmer can only be expected to iron out so much. They still need designs and clarification on the designs.
A programmer generally needs to be given something to do, a comfortable place to do it with coffee and left alone to get on with it, with some fellow programmers to exchange ideas, PM to keep them on track and designers/ UX to clarify and feed assets. Without these ingredients the programmer might get grumpy and walk out on your half finished project.
Programmers are grumpy if they are messed about because they know they can always find back up work.
Your project needs to be exceptional or offer other perks or be a learning opportunity for it to be worthwhile for the programmer.
Finding a programmer is easy if you have money. Otherwise you need to be able to explain your incredible idea very persuasively and be able to give the conditions so the programmer can work on it ethically.
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.