Ask YC: Looking for a co-founder

[mixmax]

I'm seriously considering applying for funding in the upcoming YC round, I have an excellent idea that is very well thought out (I think...), I have learned how to program so that I can implement this idea, and I'm roughly 2/3 done. Since this is my first real programming project there are probably issues in the form of scalability, security, modularity, etc.

The idea is an online project management/ productivity enhancement tool. If implemented correctly it might even solve the problem of email overload that PG brought up in a comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=144127

Since YC seems very reluctant to take single founders I thought that I would look for a cofounder here...

I'm looking for a hacker that knows php (yeah - I know...), javascript, css, and mysql as this is what I have programmed it in. Pretty standard. The important thing is that you are smart and get things done.

I am currently located in Denmark, but will move to wherever the action is - the startup scene here is horrible, and I don't mind seeing the world ;-) I have done startups before, and have always been the glue that keeps the team together - half business half tech kind of guy.

My mail is in my profile if you think it sounds like fun :-)

[edw519]

mixmax, I recognize you from your many contributions here and wish you the best of luck. My skill set is very close to what you seek, and I'd love to meet you and talk about possibilities some day, but for the time being I'm completely consumed by my own startup.

When you say "the upcoming YC round", do you mean 4/02/08? If so, I imagine that you'd be better off applying as a single founder. Probably not a good idea to go into business with someone you've only known for 8 days. As a single founder myself, I'd need at least 6 months to a year to get to know someone and work with them before I'd make a commitment. Better yet, I'd prefer someone I've known for years, but the dozen or so possibilities always seem to have some other road block.

Is there anyone you already know and have worked with before that could join you? That way, your odds would be much better (for YC and beyond).

Good luck and keep us posted.

[mixmax → edw519]

Yes, you're absolutely right - You shouldn't make a commitment to getting married after having known each other for a week. I thought about putting this in the submission, but that might put some great people off. My thought was to adress the issue in mail exchange, but since you bring it up here I get a chance of saying it up front:

My intention is to apply for YC founding in a week, and I'm looking for a technical co-founder. But I'm probably not prepared to make a total commitment in that time. There are many ways this can be solved. One idea goes along the lines of a contract that will give a co-founder an increasing number of shares as work gets done. This way I won't end up with a no-good co-founder, and a co-founder that actually produces good work won't be cheated out of ownership. This is of course pretty fluid, and there are a lot of details that need to be worked out. Other ideas might be viable as well.

And for the record: I fully intend to get this startup going whether I get accepted for YC or not. And I'm looking for a co-founder regardless of outcome. My belief is that a cake prepared by two competent people is more than twice as big as a cake prepared by one competent person.

There are a few people that I have worked with before that I would love to do something with again. Unfortunately they are tied up. So no luck there...

[tim2 → edw519]

[nevermind] ---Untrue. Unless your product has already shown considerable traction or you're a startup legend, it is 100% percent certain that they will not accept you as a single founder.

Not making a judgement on this policy, it just seems fair for people to know before they take the time to apply as a single founder.

[pg → tim2]

it is 100% percent certain that they will not accept you as a single founder

Two of the startups in the current batch were run by single founders when we accepted them. Neither was a startup legend or had any traction.

The odds of being accepted are much greater (roughly 4x) with a cofounder, but it's not impossible to get funded as a single founder.

[daniel-cussen → pg]

Did they got co-founders? How does this work out?

[mixmax → daniel-cussen]

This is an interesting question that I would love to see some answers to. Locating a co-founder at a later time doesn't seem to be a bad idea.

[pchristensen → mixmax]

I also be it would be much easier to find a cofounder if you've already secured YC-status.

[tim2 → pg]

Thankyou for the clarification.

[mixmax → tim2]

Do you have some kind of metrics for this, do you have inside information, or is it an educated guess?

[redorb → mixmax]

its PG, a ycombinator founder, thus - his numbers should be correct

[mixmax → redorb]

yeah I know, just posted the question before PG gave the answer :-)

[dkokelley]

Just a thought, if you're planning on applying to the round coming up in a few days I would suggest holding off until next time. Your odds will be better because you will have A: a further developed product, B: A cofounder who you know very well and are comfortable with, and C: more time for PG and crew to look at your application.

Of course after you consider the upsides to this, there aren't really any downsides to applying now, even if you don't get accepted. But if you don't get accepted, I encourage you to apply again in the winter round. The problem you're addressing I believe is a good one to solve.

[pg → dkokelley]

There's always a downside of waiting to do anything in a startup: you have competitors. You may not know who they are, but odds are there's someone else out there working on roughly the same thing.

If you're not committed to a particular idea, you can safely wait, yes. But if there is something specific you want to work on, you can't safely delay at any stage, whether it's getting funding, releasing, or adding new features.

[dkokelley → pg]

Sure. I wasn't suggesting not doing anything until the next funding round. Ideally, mixmax would continue working on the idea, while hopefully getting to know potential cofounders and making other contacts. That way, when YC hosts its winter round, their team will have the benefits already mentioned in my above post.

[mixmax → dkokelley]

I would rather not wait if I can get going now. Usually pushing yourself into something that you might not be quite ready for means that you have to take responsibility for it.

There are too many hopeful entrepreneurs that think "I'm not quite ready, so I'll do it in a month" - and have done so for years. In my experience it is better to push forward into the great unknown....

[as → mixmax]

Which would probably be a good idea. Heads up that Google is working on a task list/productivity manager for calendar. One link here: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/05/10/task-list-coming-in-...

And there was another I can't seem to find now where a Google employee explicitly stated in response to people petitioning for one that a task manager was in the works .

[mixmax → as]

Thanks for the link :-)

Google does some nice stuff, and they have huge brand recognition, so I definitely worry about them. That said, I think that the whole productivity app business needs to be thought about in a different way, the way it works now you're always trying to shoehorn your project into something that almost but not quite fits. I hope to have an advantage in that department.

[NewWorldOrder → mixmax]

I'd say don't even worry about Google, because, frankly, Google could build a spaceship if it wanted to...who could stop it? Any company that can tell the U.S. government "no" has some power...so focus on what you can effect...your cutting-edge product

[mixmax → NewWorldOrder]

Hopefully cutting edge :-)

[chengmi → as]

That was posted almost 2 years ago...

[as → chengmi]

I couldn't find the proper link, but it was only 2 months old.

[dennykmiu]

This might be somewhat off topic since you are looking for another technical co-founder to build a product as opposed to someone to help build a company.

At the risk of being presumptuous, I like to offer my latest chapter on how to build a team, not so much on how to entice talents but to screen the wannabes who do not have the staying power to be in a startup.

http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2008/03/team-building.html

Good luck. It sounds like fun.

[mixmax → dennykmiu]

Not at all - after all building a product is only the first step to building a company.