Are my friends and family crazy?

[darbor]

Hello, My name is Rob and I can't believe I'm writing this. Here goes. I have been on the sidelines reading Hacker News for 3 years now and too scared to ask any questions because I am just a regular Joe with no technical background....NONE! The Story; I have an idea for a online marketplace website. The user base I am catering to is huge. Hint: My users are a lot like me. We barely understand how a computer works. We can barely type. We don't Tweet. We do not have books with Faces on it. We do not use Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat or any other social platforms. I know, how can we function on this planet without any of these things in our lives. My users are smart, work hard and this country could not survive without them. They are the forgotten ones with all this high tech hoopla. I know the trendy word nowadays is it "disruptive"? The answer is yes. I have presented my idea to friends and family and the general reaction is usually ..... holy crap! They joke with me and say the market is in the Godzillions. Are you hiring? Hahaha!

I am a family guy and I'm concerned. I'm sure most of you all have heard or read about the poor guy who pissed off his kids college fund on a pipe dream but I can't and won't let that happen to me. That's why I need your help.

So, my question to you is; How do I find the right person or company to help me build this thing?

For me it's all about trust.

Thank you for not laughing at me too hard and helping me chase "the dream". I look forward to your advise.

Thank you! Rob

[mindcrime]

I'm sure most of you all have heard or read about the poor guy who pissed off his kids college fund on a pipe dream but I can't and won't let that happen to me

Good, don't do that. Web-based applications can be developed fairly inexpensively, especially if you were willing to learn to code yourself. Otherwise, try to spend other people's money (but with the caveat about being careful about how much equity you give up if you get this thing going and start raising money).

Another thing you have to consider... if you want this built, you have three realistic options:

1. Learn to code, and do it yourself, at least through the initial stages.

2. Subcontract the work to somebody on a pure "work for hire" basis

3. Bring in a co-founder who receives a share of the equity in exchange for building the site.

In many ways, (3) above is the most attractive, but in this case, you face an interesting conundrum... you have an idea, but a potential co-founder is going to ask what else you can bring to the table? If you aren't going to code, what are you going to do? If all you have is the idea, and the other person(s) have to do all the work, they are (rightly, IMO) going to want the lion's share of the equity. You, as the originator of the idea, may not be so comfortable with such an arrangement.

Given that, unless you have some money you are comfortable spending on option (2), I seriously recommend considering (1). It wouldn't be the first time a non-technical person learned to code and built their own prototype and then used that to work their way forward... once you have a prototype, you're in strong shape to seek a co-founder or outside investment.

All of that said, if you want to subcontract the work out to somebody, feel free to shoot me an email. I might be able to help you find somebody.

[darbor]

Thank you for your reply. Option 1. I have a full time job, I am limited in time to learn how to code. Option 2. I looked into websites like Elance and Odesk and not really sure who to trust based on some bad reviews. Option 3. I believe can build the website with funds I have. I prefer not to have a partner at this time. Been there before and I usually run circles around them. You did not mention hiring a web developer / company?

[logn]

Option 2 is hard. It means you're in the role of engineering manager. Most people on oDesk/elance are individual engineers and the consulting shops on there are generally just loose associations of friends or crappy outsourcing firms.

I'd suggest finding a small, local consulting shop and asking them to build it for you as a work-for-hire giving you full copyright ownership. Full-time consulting orgs will have no interest in stealing your idea as it's their lifeblood to build out other people's ideas. Meet with the owners, see their offices, evaluate their past work, get a free consultation, and only pay what you can afford.

Finding a co-founder is also hard. I think it's the same success rate of starting a rock band. And I think it's more likely to have a bitter end where you're trying to divide a baby.

[darbor]

I agree. Your suggeston of finding a "local" consulting shop is probably the direction I will take. Thank you for your input! .

[mindcrime]

I was consolidating the idea of hiring either a full-fledged company/agency or a freelancer/freelancers, as option (2). The ELance /oDesk route is somewhat risky if you don't have prior connections with one or more people you know you can trust.

If you're really interested in subbing it out, ping me directly, I may be able to help you find somebody.

[darbor]

Thank you. I just might do that. Stay tuned......

[gojomo]

Hiring someone was option 2.

[mudil]

Look, Rob, I agree with the most important statement in business: Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that's difficult. And nobody is going to do the execution for you. Sorry, but I think there will be no partner. You'll have to do everything: from running the server and hiring developers on Odesk, to marketing and social. People that have partners have done something before, and they have partners because these partners know that they are getting in bed with someone who has been tested before. Ideas are cheap, hence you will get no partners for now. Keep working on your idea, start implementing it, and then, and only then, you'll find the right person or company to help you build this thing.

[darbor]

Thank you. Point well taken.

[slugslog]

learning coding or outsourcing the dev work both seem like non-starters to me. It's not just about getting some prototype built and walking away with it to the market. Any first attempt will be half baked at best. How do you iterate after? how do even measure if whatever you built is even working? what is reasonable traction to be had?

taking a step back though, before plunging headlong into this journey, I would seriously consider all the steps between thinking about the prototype and the 'godzillions' to be had. Just like with almost every other startup, the initial reaction to your prototype/MVC is going to be that the market doesn't care (shocker!)..maybe you get lucky and get some traction. The data you get will be clear as mud. Would you persist and continue with iterations to uncover the real market fit?

also, it doesn't matter if you are tech savvy yourself. are you at least completely comfortable working with a strong tech person without letting them completely run the show? If you are unsure, I would recommend going to a few local tech conferences/meetups and get to know the people. Maybe you'll come away with an arrangement where someone talented is willing to work part time on your time for some equity.

take your time finding the right partnership arrangement; don't worry too much about the fact that you have this brilliant idea someone else will beat you to it.

[macarthy12]

Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats. — Sue Grafton, author

[darbor]

That's why I'm here. Thanks!

[idoh]

Hey Rob, distribution is key. Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram are some of the most engaging and sticky platforms out there. If your target market does not even use those, then what chance do you have of that market finding and using what you are planning on building?

[darbor]

The user base (market)that I will be catering to uses websites like Google and Craiglist and other pay for ads type classified websites (even though Craiglist is free). Just because we do not use the websites I mentioned does not mean we do not use the internet. This market has 1000 times more buying power then the teenagers using Facebook and the like. I think that a lot of businesses think like sheep and just do what ever everybody else is doing and forget to think outside the box. Thank you for your reply!!!

[dynabros]

Why not hire a cheap overseas developer to create v1? It will cost you a grand or two, but will allow you to test your idea for little capital. You can always rebuild v2 with a reputable dev shop or freelance team.

[darbor]

I believe I have the funds to produce a quality product in V1. I would like to work with someone fairly local for some hand holding. Thanks!

[dynabros]

I may have an idea for you. Shoot me an email, it's in my profile.

[sharemywin]

with marketplaces the website is the easy part. getting both sides of the transaction to the party is the hard part. how do people sell in this market now? why would they switch to you? how are you going to reach them? take ebay they spend millions on advertising on google. and everyone know who they are.

[darbor]

I plan on building a brand / culture that appeals to my user base allowing them to "connect" with the website. I believe that I understand how the user base thinks, their likes and wants. Also, there are basically five large "pay for listings" type websites on the market now. They will switch to my site because all listings will be free and focused wholly on their market.

[X4]

I don't know what your idea is, but most people have objections that are simply not realistic. You cannot create a social network and hope to become a billionaire without knowing what people want/need or at least hitting a tangent. You maybe thinking of Zuckerberg, he hustled hard to get there, really. People simplify what he did, because they don't want to believe that success is either luck, vitamin C (connections) or hard work.

I'm soon available and want to work on some projects for fun anyway. Let's chat on https://vline.com/ about the idea and vision, if you want.. I'll do it, if I believe in the idea, otherwise you can create a profile of what type of developer you need and what needs to be done and post it here or on some job board. (post your email or other contact info on your profile so that people can reach you)

Look, what people here are telling is almost completely true. You've heard that ideas are cheap and execution is hard or that ideas are pipedreams and don't mean anything without "proper execution". The essence of this is true, but there is a part to that picture that is missing. Insider knowledge and making the product so that it's effective and efficient at what it needs to do is what ideas can't offer. That is what you shouldn't share, except with those who you need to share it with.

Nobody will steal your ideas and become a billionaire with it without putting a lot of effort into it. And if they do that, it doesn't mean that they will be any successful by a long shot. That's because there is only so much that can be winners, the rest is doomed to work or to become "the losers" in this race. Someone needs to believe as much as you do into the idea to make it.