| I recently moved to Palo Alto and don't know many people or how the startup process works (if there is such a process). I'm an everything developer and am currently building an App prototype for an idea of mine. I think it has a lot of potential and would fill an important niche. Given that I'm a developer and can build out the infrastructure/backend/mockups+app myself, what makes more sense? Should I seek funding and then try to "hire" people, or should I try to meet would-be co-founders first? I'm not trying to be greedy by doing it all myself; equity-hoarding is a solid way to sink your potential. I simply don't know the point at which I should really seek out others. I also don't know where I should go to meet people who would be a good match. I've been to local entrepreneur Meetups and haven't had much luck in finding people to work with. It almost seems like getting seed funding might make more sense and then I can simply post job ads. I think I can move aggressively with a proper designer, another developer, and marketing help. Thank you for any advice you might have! |
The first step to convincing others (co-founders, employees, investors) is convincing yourself. Learning from customers/users will help.
If I'm wrong, and that part is covered, you may want to spend some time making a monthly financial plan for the first 2 years of your business. List out all the revenues and costs you expect to have (on a cash basis, not P&L). Be generous in assuming costs, and conservative in estimating revenues. That will (i) force you to think about all the things you'll need to do and (ii) give you a way to determine whether and how much external funding you need.