Non-hackers: how to find a co-founder

Let's take a different look at this article. As a thought experiment, say I'm a non-hacker, enrolled in b-school, looking for a hacker. Now the suggestions:<p>1. enroll in an engineering school. oops. 2. study CS, or take relevant classes. Ok, I can take relevant classes. half-oops. 3. go to all classes to see the real hackers. Real hackers aren't going to be in "introduction to programming." oops. 4. hang out with admirable hackers. Icebreakers anyone? oops.<p>Your post presumes a lot of favorable conditions which do not apply to many people your article is addressed to; the problem is left unsolved. It looks like a rather gaping problem, so why not address it? A matchmaking service!<p>I was told of an annual entrepreneurship program in Taiwan, where small teams of all hackers and all business folks apply via separate tracks. The winners then get matched together. It's quite an intriguing concept and definitely worth exploring further.

If you're not a hacker then you'd better be good in marketing and a good negotiator because these are the skills that most hackers lack. This way you'll complement each other, and you'll have something to offer the partnership.

I'm not convinced the best hackers are found in a university computer lab. When I was in college the only people in the computer lab were IRC addicts who were too broke to afford their own computer! The article mentions "the Woz" and I'm pretty sure steve jobs did not meet steve wozinak in a computer lab.

I don't think the advice in the article applies anymore. Who would go to a computer lab these days? I suspect people are more likely to use labtops and WLAN.<p>Also, I don't think hackers dislike Java. Judging by the number of Open Source projects in Java, I'd say it is popular among volunteers, too (not only people being forced to by their superiors are using it). <p>I am not sure studying programming is a good idea, either. I would also like to have a co-founder who is a graphics designer, marketing is good, too, generally somebody who gets things moving.

I think a key point from the post is that non-hackers need to make the first move - because face it, you need them more than they need you, no matter how unfair you think that is.

Oh my goodness. I'm truly alarmed by this article. The author needs to think more in terms innovation, and creating value (for him and his co-workers, his investors and his users) in places that people would not think to look. I don't think it's about finding a hacker who can code in Ruby and then building a me too web2.0 app/website. Web 2.0 and pastel coloured websites will come and go but good innovators will always be around whether they know how to program in the latest "geek" language or not.

How about how to find a co-founder if you've sent out flyers, list-serv emails and talked to professors? :P