Premise 1:Investors/Incubators over-estimate their ability to pick good ideas/startups.
Premise 2:
An MVP built by a lone, but talented techie is almost as likely to turn into something 'successful' as a startup on angellist that has: 4 founders, 9 advisors, 13 press releases, 600 followers, etc
Premise 3:
Most freelancers will not build and/or follow-through with their ideas, because they perceive their opportunity cost to be too high.
Premise 4:
HackerNews has a decent number of talented freelancers with good ideas.
Based on these premises, I present The Proposition [Version 1.0]:
I'll pay you $5000 to build the MVP of that idea you've been kicking around in your head for the last year. Once you're done (ideally within 2 months), you can go back to earning your full potential. At this point, I'll take over and spend an additional $3000 to acquire enough users/customers for us to evaluate the project's likelihood of success. We split the resulting company 50-50, as equal co-founders.
Isn't this a horrible deal? Incubators typically inject more money for far less equity! I earn $10K a month, I could easily save up $8K in a few months, and do this myself for 100% equity.
True. If you can get into YCombinator, for example , you should obviously go for it. I can't compete with that. If you're earning $150K+, or you've already been working on your side-project for a year, this may not be for you. On the other hand, if you're just getting started and you need a little push, both financially and emotionally, this could be right up your alley.
Who the hell are you? Why would I work with you?
I'm also a techie. Have had one moderately successful venture so far, which has given me a comfortable life (but not quite retirement amount). I want to reduce my coding time and instead help people get their ideas to market using my resources. Hopefully we can build a few success stories along the way. You can find out more during our first Skype chat!
Will you fund everyone and every thing?
No. I'll still need to like your idea, and feel that a positive long-term return is possible. But my belief in Premise 1, combined with the favorable structure of the proposition, means I don't need to be that picky. I'll also need you to commit to working on the MVP full-time until it's done. Evenings + Weekend work is something this structure is actively aiming to avoid. Sign up, ship it, then go back to earning a steady income.