[Tarential]

I met my co-founder at the very first Ruby on Rails user group meeting I attended. His previous partner had left him high and dry with a customer and no product, so he was at the meeting looking for a technical co-founder. I didn't know RoR then, but I figured it would be a perfect chance to learn.

We were both wary enough not to agree to anything long term up front. It started with a simple quid pro quo 2 week contract after which we decided to test the waters further by continuing to work together unofficially. After about a month we negotiated a reverse vested stock agreement with a short cliff (already passed) that satisfied us both.

Version one of our product (voltagecrm.com) is nearing the end of the beta cycle and will soon be available for purchase. In the meantime we've been bootstrapping the product using a custom theme on top of an open source CRM to start building a customer base and stay profitable.

I think the partner I found by complete luck was better than I would have found if I'd gone searching. His skills complement mine in every way. He is a salesman, a people-person, who is willing to talk to clients, lawyers, mentors, etc. He has the proper "better to spend $10 than waste 3 hours of your time" attitude that I can't seem to manage. He goes out to ask current and potential customers what features they need and what problems they have with our current system. In short, he makes sure that all I have to do is write software.

Perhaps most importantly of all, I actually like my partner. We can sit and have lunch and talk about things besides the company without feeling uncomfortable.

From reading about the experiences of others, I'd say I got very lucky indeed.

[cmorgan8506]

I have to say, I envy you.