[luke_osu]

Last week I was approached by 2 business type guys looking for a technical partner to start a business. One of these guys I already knew from years back. Immediately I got the impression that these guys were very passionate and very serious about their idea. It helps that their idea was a good one.

What really impressed me is they had already done a lot of the leg work. They picked out a name and had a logo designed. They had used mocking software to mock up most of what will become v1. They had written content for the entire website. They had already started using their competitors products which only further validated their idea. They had also reached out to their contacts to see if the idea had legs and if people would use it. They had a big vision for what they wanted to do.

When guys come at me like this, it gets me fired up and makes it hard to say no. They aren't looking for a free ride and they don't expect/want you to do all the work. They needed a guy to build it and they wanted an equal equity partner.

That is how you land a technical co-founder.

[rhizome]

It really illustrates a divide in understanding. Some people think being a business guy is all about having an elevator pitch when it's really about having a well-developed spec. Otherwise, you're looking for a technical cofounder who is also a product guy, which is very expensive indeed. Product development is the grass-roots of business, the "steak" from which "sizzle" is sold.

[gord]

absolutely - they key point is that they actually took halting steps at 'implementing something specific' [ by implementing I dont mean writing code.. it could be cardboard flash cards of the workflow ]

I'm endlessly surprised to see how rare this is.

[wtn]

A key point here is that you already knew one of the guys.

[adovenmuehle]

I think it's a point to consider but I think the main point is that these "business" people showed passion and had delivered on that passion by creating mockups, logos and so forth.

[nhangen]

It's very easy to meet technical people. Conferences, meetup groups, hackathons, etc. Just go where they go and start hanging out.