How To Find A Technical Co-Founder For Your “Billion Dollar Idea”…
As a non-technical co-founder, this is perhaps the question I get most.
I’ve been asked this more times than I can count, so in the interest of my time, I’m going to tell you here (once and for all). I’m sure people have said this before me, and I’m sure smarter people have said it better than me, but here’s my 2 cents:
It’s simple:
“If you build it (…and users want/need it), they will come.” (Field of Dreams reference, if you didn’t catch on)
Ideas are cheap. Anyone can have one. Talking about ideas is also cheap. Anyone can sound passionate and committed, and make some case for why they have the next billion dollar idea.
What’s not cheap is action, even in the face of obstacles. Talented developers are in extremely high demand (just google shortage of candidates for computer science jobs)…
So you telling them you have this great idea, but in order to get traction you just need them to build it first isn’t going to impress them. To be honest, if they just wanted to build something, they probably have their own ideas. Show them that you’re going to make it happen with or without them (or anyone else for that matter: investors, advisors, partners, etc.)… buttt, if they get involved it will accelerate things and benefit everyone.
Before I brought on my technical co-founder, I had already gotten into and gone through a pre-accelerator and piloted a super crappy MVP (build as a sort of wiki on SquareSpace) with a community college.
Could I have made a million excuses about why I couldn’t get a pilot or any funding without a technical co-founder? Yes. Was that going to get my idea off the ground though? No.
At this point, you might be thinking of a million excuses.
“My idea is more technical/hardware, so I can’t even build an MVP…”
“My idea is so big and has to be perfect that I can’t get started on it until I have six figures worth of funding…”
But that’s what separates real entrepreneurs from people who just talk.
There are a million non-technical ways to prototype something and make progress: concierge prototypes, sign up lists, letters of intent, etc.
I taught an “Entrepreneurial Thinking” class to middle schoolers and high schoolers on Stanford’s campus last year, and within 1 week every one of the groups had either executed a prototype or secured sign ups for a wait list/commitments, etc.
So if middle schoolers can do this, I think management consultants, lawyers, investment bankers, and college students should be able to as well.
I get to do some awesome things… I regularly meet with people like Senators, Secretaries of Education, CEOs, and more. I’ve even served on an advisory group with the likes of former White House Senior Advisors.
But it’s only because I didn’t wait around for other people to fund and build my billion dollar idea (to be honest, the first version of my idea sucked…).
I tried to get other people involved to help me, but I wasn’t dependent on them. From Day 1 I’ve made it clear I’m doing this with or without them, it’s just about who is going to ride this rollercoaster (to success) with me.
P.S. — As I said, this logic also works great when thinking about other types of team members, investors, advisors, partners, you name it!
P.P.S. — Sorry for any typos/grammatical errors. I wrote this on the fly, and hit publish.
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