Do you have a co-founder? How did you find them?
Sharath Kuruganty
54 replies
Finding a co-founder is hard, and sometimes it takes a lot of time.
Folks who have co-founders, drop your tips, hacks, and methods on finding one so that you can help fellow founders who are seeking one.
Replies
Akash Bhadange@designerdada
Layoffs Tracker
Fortunately I found my co-founder at my home only. I am married to her! @ms_yogii 😃 Last year during the lockdown, we brainstormed the idea of peerlist.io over our evening tea and next week we started working on our idea.
She's a Frontend Engineer and I am a Product Designer. MVC (Minimum Viable Combo) to get started on an idea 😅
Share
We're developing a networking tool for tasks like this one — Intch (https://www.producthunt.com/post...)
There are a lot of things that could be solved via networking — finding an investor, an expert, a co-founder, etc.
Instant Programmatic SEO
TLDR:
- Startup School co-founder match
- Intense trial period
- First Round founder dating playbook
My co-founder and I met on YC Startup School's co-founder matching platform! (https://www.startupschool.org/co...). Highly recommend.
We're now building Whalesync - a super simple way to sync data across your no-code tools. (https://www.whalesync.com/)
When we met, it was obvious from the beginning we shared a passion/experience in no-code and had complementary skills.
That being said, we took the partnership decision very seriously (which I'd also recommend) and went thru a rigorous process to make sure we'd be great partners long-term. This included:
- a 2 month trial period of working together full-time
- days spent deep diving on core values, goals, and desired culture
- First Round's founder dating playbook: https://review.firstround.com/th...
Certainly feels like a bit of luck that Curtis and I were able to meet, but hope that's helpful!
Wire Flow
On the Github issues
I have had the experience to work with multiple co-founders, some good others not as great. Working with them on another project first is the key for me. I highly recommend someone that you have worked with and get along fine, as opposed to a good friend that you have never worked with before.
Startup-Investor Fit
But first... maybe you don’t need a co-founder. Many have done it alone. I personally wouldn’t without someone because I know how much it takes, but if that's the path you want to go down - cool. If it's for the tech… consider low-code, no-code and bootcamps first.
Also, don’t rush it. You are looking for someone like you or maybe unlike you - but either way someone who compliments you and that you’ll work with for next 8-10 years. Key is to take your time and find the best fit(s).
Trust and joy. Whilst there are a lot of perspectives on this, I think choosing a co-founder boils down to these two words. Trust is about working with someone you can rely on and has the right intentions. Joy is joy - if you don’t enjoy their company then you’ve already lost.
Onto my tips:
Start with your circle, because you already have data.
1. Your immediate group of friends.
2. Ask your immediate groups of friends if they can recommend someone.
3. Tap the people you used to work with.
4. Think back to those you studied with.
Then reach outside your network.
5. Attend networking events: Hopin, Eventbrite, Meetup, or hang out at Coworking spaces.
6. Attend a hackathon: ie. StartupWeekend.
7. Try platforms: Product Hunt, CoFoundersLab, Lunch Club
8. Get on social: Clubhouse, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram - again, trying to stick to people that are 2nd degree wherever possible.
Fomo Fix
This discussion is timely cause I'm about to interview a potential co-founder. Will bookmark this page and come back to it on saturday.
The World's first MVP marketplace
There is another way to find a co-founder. You can participate in hackathons, just pick the ones in which you have expertise. There are a number of people who are looking for teammates. E.g. search here https://devpost.com/
Undefeated Underdogs Podcast
I will go first.
While I'm building community at Product Hunt on the side I run a SaaS product called Shoutout Initially, I built the MVP and validate the idea in the market. Later when I was looking for a co-founder to scale things, I went on Twitter to put a bat signal and found @curtisjcummings!
Here's a detailed story on how to find a co-founder.
Hope this helps!
Bakup.io
I met my co-founder at college and we then went to the same university, decided to start a business together after we finished.
Yes, my latest co-founder I found on LinkedIn. I know LinkedIn gets a bad rap, but the connections I made through it have been high quality.
Before that, I found my previous co-founder in a coworking space, and we joined forces scarily fast, took us about 30 min. to click with each other and we were building already.
no, I was searching earlier for long time. talking my classmates.
I think its waste to search for cofounder.
you work on theproblem you love. explain about theproblem, how to solve it.
if you any one interested, supporting for long time, you can choose him
1. Ex. Colleagues
2. Anglelist.io
Keep an eye on your
3. Suppliers / vendors &
4. Customers
3&4 can be as close as ex colleagues
I met my co-founder during our studies in Barcelona 5 years ago. We've been flatmates since then and worked on many side projects and startup ideas before founding Wonderpath this year (https://www.wonder-path.com/). I definitely recommend side projects as a great way to get started.
Here's a post on how to find your co-founder from our blog, Flatmate Founders: https://flatmatefounders.substac...
Connector Catalog by Whaly
Hi @5harath YC just launched a matchmaking platform to find your co-founders
Link to the announcement: https://blog.ycombinator.com/co-...
Link to the platform: https://www.startupschool.org/co...
Didn't try it though!
Product Hunt
@5harath @flobbgt Ohh yes, absolutely! PH community loved it https://www.producthunt.com/post... Kudos to @catheryn and team 🙌
Bucket
I was lucky to find my co-founders during school, but YC's online startup school is a really cool resource as well. They do weekly group calls where you can meet and talk with other founders in a similar stage as you. You can also check a box that says you're looking for co-founders so people are aware. Seems to be a really good virtual option for finding!
https://www.startupschool.org/
Canonic
Met them at my previous job!
Pee York
I don’t have one. Nocode might increase the number of solo founder in the future.
@yusuke2424 definitely. It’s so easy to start and on both ends. If you are a Dev, there are thousands of mar/adtech growth tools. If you’re more on a business side, than you have an evolving market of no-code everything (from website builders to Natural Language processing). It’s never been so easy to build prototype and MVP
Vectorly
@yusuke2424 YC launched founders matching platform: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
People you have worked with in the past make great co-founders - you already built trust, know whether you work well together and whether you complement each other well.
If you're considering someone you've never worked with before, I'd strongly recommend starting with short-term project with a clear outcome to see how it goes :)
Summer Bod 2020
I don't have one, but my former CEO found one in a great story.
He was thinking about starting a software company, something that was different from his former line of work. So he made a list of a bunch of software people on LinkedIn, then reached out to them, took them to launch talked to them.
Found one he liked, proposed starting a business, and they had millions in revenue in a few years.
Important note, my friend brought a lot to the table. He brought ideas, business connections, and money.
A co-founder is a partner, not just 'someone to build your idea'