75 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
75 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
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layout: post
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title: How to Meet Your Next Cofounder
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<p class="meta">3 Nov 2008 - San Francisco</p>
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Over the last few months I've seen a number of people looking for cofounders on
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Hacker News or via their own personal blogs. I think this is, at best, a highly
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inefficient way to find a cofounder and, at worst, a way to fool yourself into
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finding the *wrong* cofounder. In any case, it's a naive approach to finding the
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person that will need to stand by your side in the coming storm that we call
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"running a startup."
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Don't get me wrong, the internet is an amazing tool for meeting people. The
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wider the net you cast, the more likely you are to find the perfect match. But
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the internet has its limitations. I've had internet friends that were engaging,
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witty, and brilliant online, but in person felt awkward and boring. Conversely,
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I know people that are volatile and inflammatory online, but present an attitude
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of friendliness and caring in person. This phenomenon makes it difficult to
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gauge an individual's personality from online interaction alone.
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A far better use of the internet is to find groups of people that share your
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interests. Track down the local users group for your language or technology of
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choice. The simple fact that members of these groups take time out of their day
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to show up means that they're more motivated and driven than the average person.
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Even if it's a bit of a commute to get to the meetings, start showing up
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regularly. Prepare a few presentations on topics that you're passionate about.
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Bonus points if you present on ideas related to your potential startup. Don't
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worry about revealing your game-changing secrets; stealth mode is bullshit. Talk
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to everyone. Steer the conversation toward your interests and if someone there
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is excited about the same things, it will be clear.
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It may take weeks or months, but in a good group you'll find a handful of people
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that you really like. If at all possible, go out drinking with these people
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after the meetups. This is one of the easiest ways to go from "acquaintance" to
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"friend" and gives you free license to bring up your craziest of ideas without
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sounding like too much of a nutjob.
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Of the people that you like, several may make excellent candidates for
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cofounders. Do a little research on these individuals. What does their code look
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like? Have they done much open source? Do they demonstrate an entrepreneurial
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spirit? Can they stick with a single project for a long time? Have they been
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loyal to their friends and companies in the past? A good cofounder should be
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someone with whom you feel privileged to work. And they should feel privileged
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to work with you. The two of you should be on very solid ground before you begin
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your startup adventure, because once you do, the impact of every argument is
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going to feel like it's been multiplied by a thousand.
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This all sounds like a lot of hard work. Maybe you're wondering if it would be
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better to just go solo. I did that with Gravatar, and, in retrospect, it's
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painfully obvious that I made a lot of stupid mistakes. When it's just you and
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your thoughts it becomes too easy to pick the first thing that pops into your
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head. We're programmed to think all of our ideas are good, but reality tells a
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different story. Truly good decisions are forged from the furnace of argument,
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not plucked like daisies from the pasture of a peaceful mind. A good cofounder
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tells you when your ideas are half-baked and ensures that your good ideas
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actually get implemented.
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The second biggest danger with going solo is the loss of motivation. Solipsism
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might make you feel important at first, but the constant lack of feedback and
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the absence of support during tough times can easily lead to a premature end to
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your adventure. Cofounders are like workout buddies. Just when you think there's
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no possible way you can do another rep, there they are, rooting you on toward an
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achievement that wouldn't be possible without them.
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Your choice of cofounder will affect everything you do in your startup. They'll
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share every defeat with you and celebrate every success. They'll help you
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understand your own ideas better by offering a different perspective. They'll be
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the single most important decision you make during the tenure of your startup,
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so choose wisely and with extreme care.
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