Recruiting Technical Co-Founders

Vision is a word I don't like and gets thrown around a lot. It's not quantifiable. If you are a non technical co-founder you need to be able to bring in the money. That means you're either 1) Able to raise VC/Angel and probably have a track record, 2) Have serious connections/customers in the space you're starting a business in, or 3) Putting your own cash in.

I am a 'technical co-founder' and I can't say how many times I'm approached by people who want me to build some application for them in exchange for 10-20% of equity. What do they bring to the table? In most cases it's just their 'idea'. So usually my question to them is - why can't I just take this idea and execute it on my own?<p>If you want to find a good technical co-founder - be good at sales. Business is successful when you can 1) build a product 2) sell it. Well, part 2 is the hardest one in 99% of cases. If some biz co-founder can nail it - he/she will have no problem finding a tech co-founder.

Getting technical cofounders is pretty tough if you don't know much about tech. Too many non-technical founders are interested in technical cofounders to "Build their idea for them". I don't think this arrangement is a co-founder arrangement as much as it is a work-for-hire agreement. The key with getting a technical co-founder is that you actually "co-found" the idea together. It is just as much as his idea as it is yours. If you keep this in mind, finding the right technical co-founder will become easier.

My tactic for winnowing non-technical potential founders who respect what you bring to the table versus those who likely do not is the following. I point out to them I am already engaged in my own company using my extensive technical background to successfully market and sell on my own, and am quite busy and happily successful, but could carve out the 10 or so hours per month to provide my expertise guiding their technical decisions as a board member, even helping them find technical founders who have the time to implement. I give them a quick "taste" by describing what kinds of technologies and APIs someone implementing their idea would need to be involved in, and after some quick Googling, their top 2-3 potential competitors in either the same or adjacent spaces, and key decisions that straddle the business-technical spectrums they will need to make that they haven't thought of yet that can dramatically impact the technical architectural decisions an implementor would have to subsequently make. If some numbers are available, I give them a development budget and time line "rough sketch", and tell them I can work up a set of potential MIRRs for their implemented product/service if they have some available numbers from potential customers. I describe that board members with this much due diligence before board meetings typically receive a 2% stake pre-seed, then step back.<p>In every case so far, they have gone radio silent, and months later I always find out that their ideas still go unimplemented, which does not surprise me. I believe an authentic counteroffer for a genuine board position (if you already have a track record that aligns with the counteroffer) is a positive and non-combative response. If they genuinely appreciate what you bring to a potential team, they would believe it fair to exchange 2% for that value, or at least they will start dickering. If on the other hand they are just looking for Work For Hire on the cheap, they'll move their pitch onto the next technical persone they run into.

I've yet to start my own company, but you better believe I have a working list of "co-founder" candidates in mind. I've been building the list for years and I believe the opportunity, and the components necessary to execute, will drive my choice when the time comes.

Agree 100% with the college entrepreneurship club comment. The connections I made with entrepreneurial-minded, passionate people while still in school have been hugely beneficial.

I would be willing to work w/ a non-technical founder if the product is in a niche that few people have access to. Like medical, financial, business operations, etc. The reason technical people focus on consumer apps is because we don't have insight or access to niches with paying customers.

<i>&#62;we’ve known each other for between four and five years</i><p>Probably the most important line for me. This one line wraps up all the jargon about liking, trusting, respecting, etc. No, you don't <i>actually</i> have to know a cofounder for many years, but I do think that it should <i>feel</i> like you're long time friends / colleagues by the time you're making the plunge.