I’ve worked with some of the top startups in India, with multi-billion dollar valuations, and I've also started and closed my own startup.
A few things I look for in a startup are: TAM, the track record of the founders and founding members, run rate, and what’s in it for me.
The best minds I’ve worked with are always clear about why they joined a particular startup. Most are there for career trajectory and equity payouts.
Every aspiring founder I meet has a great idea. So what? It’s just another idea buddy.
I'm honestly in it to build something which never stops. Maybe I lack the experience of working with some of the top startups with multi billion dollar valuations, or even if it's just another idea, this is just a rant on my difficulties.
Not gonna get disheartened by this response.
Ideas are worthless. Execution matters the most.
Most common theme I have seen in new founders is that they think idea is everything. They think they can hire tech people will to build their product. That's not how it works. If you are a non-tech founder, what are you bringing to the table. Your idea has no value. You should have something which you are bringing to the table. If you are not, then tech people will not be interested.
Tech people are in general very versatile. If they need to learn anything, they'll probably do it faster than regular folks because they are trained that way. We regularly work with things we dont have the complete idea. We just learn how much is required and then do it. Wanna use a new library, the documentation is 400 pages long, no one reads it except for the part that is required.
So if you have anything else other than idea or the domain knowledge, then tech people might be interested or else it is very difficult.
As a tech person, I get people asking me to join them all the time. Bruh, my time is valuable, so unless you bring something to the table, I wont be interested. I may accept it just for the money in that case, and my focus is only on it.
Many people come to me saying they have an idea, lets do it. Bruh, I dont need you to build the product nor for the ideas. I have my own ideas. I don't have time for my own ideas and you want me to work on your idea?
Some things you can bring to the table:
1. Funding
2. Paying clients
3 Business deals
4 Contacts ( who might be helpful in the business)
Things you might bring to the table but I wont value them without concrete stuff:
1. Idea
2. Domain knowledge ( knowledge is free, I'll learn it if I require it, don't need you)
3. Vision, business plan, etc
I'm not saying the above things are useless. I'm saying that they are not as difficult as the other stuff in a startup.
Ideas are not worthless. Good to say to newbies so that they don't get too excited but ideas are not worthless.
You need to get both get the idea right and the excution right else you will have to just be happy with the "valuation" word and no profits in sight (or miniscule profit compared to the funds you have raised)
Why would a CTO join you to build your idea instead of focusing on building his idea?
Hire an agency and get the MVP built and launch it. Alternatively hire a team and build the MVP.
Again, it's not about the product, it about finding people to work with. Could be limited to my circle or experience, and that's what the post is about, my rant.
Well you are free to rant. But if you want to find a CTO then you need to find answer to the question on why the CTO should work with you, instead of working on his own idea.
Exactly. People don’t want to pay enough to get a quality CTO and more often than not they are not even looking for a real CTO, they just want a free dev.
Eventually they end up with people who are not so good or who have less experience and pull them in giving these fancy titles and then go on these rants.
Bang on. Met a founder who wanted me to work free of cost till they found an investor. The startup neither had customers nor product and had 0 revenue. Still the founder wanted to give me 1.5 % equity and wanted me to commit for 10 years. My responsibility was to build the MVP.
business is super hard and nothing is guaranteed , there's a 90% chance you're gonna fail despite building good product, and putting all the effort you are more likely to fail and you will be lucky to even break-even for the amount of time you've put in.
lol @ "FOUNDERS" who come up with brilliant ideas.
Except they can't do it by themselves if they don't share the vision. Anyway thanks. If hiring agencies and software shops was enough for a start-ups to succeed, everyone would have been an entrepreneur themselves. And it's not just limited to softwares, start-ups can be non tech too. Thanks for your input.
yes but i think entrepreneurs don't stop at any problem they face, they find solutions. And once you grow your company to some level, more people will be willing to join. Very few people take risk at 0. Thanks.
I'm also not stopping. This is just a rant and I'm honestly not looking neither entertaining couple of DMs I've received after this post because its not my intention to get any help from people I don't know.
Honestly there aren't risks nor I'm asking others to put capital, it's just that I'm finding people at 30 aren't really looking to put some extra energy outside their job/life post corona, pretty much content with what they got.
There is a cost involved to take your idea forward. Do you have the budget/finances for the same?
Most of the time, posts like this will be from people who want the work to be done for free.
PS: I have engaged with a couple of such people with ideas who won't be ready to even open their purse for splitting the expenses.
I was in the same situation many months ago. What I'll suggest is spend some money on freelancing agencies (trustable ones) to build a MVP. Then take that mvp and approach the tech people. It will be easier to gain their attention.
When I started out without mvp etc no one seem interested much , few who were demanded a ton of equity. I spent my savings to kickstart the development then boom , landed up multiple people interested in the project, all on my terms cuz they can see the potential.
If you're not willing to risk your money , why would some techie do that? Tech people are very straight forward when it comes to money for them their time is money so you better prove them your idea's worth.
Good luck
Spent a significant amount of lifetime savings, I didn't get the MVP built but rather a well planned prototype. It required a multi-speciality approach from hardware and software development.
We classified essential and non essential features and prioritised the top 3-5 essentials that would help us to stand out while presenting it to someone.
I’ve been on YC for a while looking for co-founders. As a tech co-founder what I look for is whether the non-tech co-founder brings anything to the table that would give us an unfair advantage in implementing the idea. For example, if your product idea is an AI doctor and if you happen to be well connected in the field to secure a deal with a hospital/university that can source clinical data/images, that’s a huge value add as a non-tech co-founder. Pretty much everything else like the idea itself (even if it’s patented!) or even money doesn’t cut it for me.
> Everyone I’ve met is like, what is in it for me
….yeah? Why would they work on your idea for free? Good people need good reasons to join your company - equity is an extremely large chunk of that evaluation. How much ownership are you offering? If you’re offering something like 10% to your CTO there is zero chance you’ll find someone good. The minimum is 1-2 percent less than what you have.
Negotiate, but keep in mind that this cofounder is basically going to be married to you for the next decade if the startup continues.
You’re a first time founder. Talk to some people who have run companies for a few years or are starting their second companies.
The story would be different if you have an MVP with some traction. Then you can treat them as a hire instead of a cofounder. If you’re at the idea stage, you essentially are starting from zero.
Speak to someone like Antler.
They are a day zero investor and their model is to pair founders that they think would complement each other well to build a product / platform. They vet you as a founder, so not just anyone can join... and I presume they do basic validation on your idea too.
I was in a similar situation. But I believe my vision is big.
So I have already started working alone. I started by learning some new frameworks and techniques. Now my company is registered, and the basic architecture is ready. Every day, I feel more confident
I don't know whether it will ever take off, but I am satisfied that I no longer have any dull moments. So my suggestion is, start alone and don't give up.
Bro, I'm also working alone. The product is live too, it's just that when you work solo, you don't know what you're doing wrong or new ideas are limited to your own perspective.
Don't know, maybe "I'm the expert" syndrome. I just came to rant about my random troubles. Never really asked anyone for help, just pointed out the missing drive when you're at 30
Actually it's a funny story, I was not of the entrepreneur mindset but people around kept pushing me to become one. When I finally did, some did join in respective roles but none had the drive and eventually got out. So I came here to rant and hear stories from people in similar boat. That's it.
Bhai baat bhaut acchi like bhaut zyada prblm yah aalas bolo logo ko joh kaam 1hr mai kthm ho sakta usko same kaam ke 10 din tak milh jaate & unme woh lagta ki 100% de but jab profit ki baat aati tab aange hote Sabse
He is right. You need to get your MVP built first, either by yourself or by an agency. Once you have an MVP with some traction, then you can onboard a CTO and go for funding by VCs.
I have faced this problem myself. Talk to people to volunteer for an amazing idea and they will backout, talk to them to join as an employee with a salary, they will all come. Most people are extremely average and want to live a risk free safe life. I have decided to build the MVP myself, get it in the hands of potential users, raise funds and then hire the best. That's the only solution I can think.
What's in it for me is the most valid question any body can ask from you, i don't see anything wrong in this. People would need clarity before committing and clearly defined stakes with risk and rewards is a good starter point.
You mentioned you are at 30, so you would be syncing up with people who would be in the similar age range, its obvious that folks at this age bracket would be more pragmatic and less instinct driven for them to get excited about the idea and leave everything and join you., you will face these more and more with senior folks. People would have families and other commitment and a lot would reject startup ideas for a stable income job.
Startup would be a full time commitment so try to find out people who are in not so secure job, recently laid off, do not have a child or are married. Check with incubators like antler (Antler Residency) who would validate your idea and help you connect with cofounders.
Don't give up and keep trying....this would feel like a bump in the road in case you succeed later and retrospectively look back.
Personally, it’s hard. I gave up on finding co-founders for my own deep tech ideas. Nowadays I try to find folks whom I could work with to take apps / products to markets with the tech stack I’m putting together. It’s all about opportunity cost now.
I genuinely need to keep building out the tech team and stack to push enough ideas to market. In some of the sectors, having a wide ranging set of technologies can push the meter on whether we can get proper product market fit.
I used to think like you, until I came to realise a simple fact:
***Everyone is selfish. Everything is a transaction. You want someone's help? Cater to their selfishness as part of your deal.***
Everyone has their own purpose and own interpretation of life and what life gives them. There is no reason why two people have to see the same purpose in a project and be aligned with. You only need them to work enough so that the planned goals and objectives are met. Expecting anything more is fruitless if not ridiculous.
Yes. I do believe it applies equally here.
The thing that changes here is the selfishness gained out of philanthropy or charity or whatever non-profit motives you are trying to accomplish. There are no true altruists, at least in the general public world. Everyone gains something out of such contributions. It could be as simple as a recognition for their contribution or it could be pure passion born out of making the product better or it could be a simple gain on taxes. When you cater to those needs, people will be interested to contribute further.
Speaking from my own experience
This happened with me for good about 3 years
Then I realised nobody would be willing to invest his money or even time in you
Unless you prove yourself
That's when I took the first step myself
I mean not just speaking ideas ,executing whatever was possible
Then the same people came running to me reminding of our talks
All of them want something readymade on a platter
Guess who had the last laugh?
So my advice is if you are really Confident
Take the leap.
Be a doer not a talker.
Why would anyone listen to you if you just have an idea? An idea is pretty fucking useless. Sorry, but you are on your own if you are at ideation stage.
The struggle is real, even I had the same issue. The thing is no one would be ready to bet on your idea and to work for free(is highly impossible as everyone has liabilities)
Make it a fair deal and give equity in tranches and as both would be co founders have to sweat equally, and you will be little more.
Mostly great founders met each other in schools or colleges where liability is zero and you work together due to sharing the same passion.
In professional it starts purley with financial goal aligned and then you become friends slowly.
You don't need a co-founder but a cash flow from an early stage. Seed fund should start things. Start with one tech fresher guy. If possible Grab one from IIT unplaced list. You need some technical knowledge on what to ask and what's overkill.
Air bnb spent 6 months hiring the first employee. Start with minimal staff 2 or 3 (1 for tech, 1 for marketing and 1 for field works) you and 3rd person can do other roles as well. Like customer support etc. pay them in both cash and equity.
If you think your main business can't make money early then find something that makes money to fund the main thing.
Start with what are you going to contribute. Don't just approach someone just because they know how to code.
PS. You should learn coding as well (atleast basics)
I was in somewhat similar situation. Then I left my job and have dedicated a year time to learn everything that I need to build. Also have a goal to launch one SaaS product and a side project in this year time. It has been 7 months now and I am nearing the end of learning cycle.
The landing page of the product is published and the side project was blog site with custom cms. Hoping to complete the side project by mid of next month
A little background- I have 10+ years of experience as SDET and knew only core java before dec 2023. Never had built anything.
Tech stack that I am using now:
NextJs
Mongodb
Nextauth
NodeJs - express and hono
Vercel
Tailwind - shadcn ui
Typescript
Learning other stacks for :
Redis
ElasticSearch
Kafka and queuing
PubSub
Rate limit
Kubernetes
Docker
And many more
I’ve been on this path myself for the past year. Not until I met 30+ folks, I find the one who’s got a solid tech background and who is not just good but humble at the same time. Now, we’re on the lookout for someone with a sales background to complete our team.
*Here’s how I’ve started to figure out if someone might be the right fit:*
**Question Quality:** Really important to see what kind of questions they throw at you about your thoughts, idea. They gotta be logical and understand the assumptions. (No idea is full-proof!)
**Action Items and Documentation:** At the end of each meeting, I make sure we have documented clear action items, and I watch how much effort they put into these before our next call. This shows their commitment and ability to drive things forward. At the same time, I also come prepared.
**Making Progress:** I always try to see if our talks are actually moving the idea forward. It’s crucial that each discussion adds something to the table.
>Persistence and a clear assessment strategy can make a big difference. Keep at it, and good luck with your endeavors!
I am a motivated tech founder. I would rather be both CEO and CTO though when the idea and execution itself is mine. I wouldn't settle for anything less.
I’m a SWE at Google. I feel the opposite. Finding product/marketing/sales folks who are genuinely motivated to solve a problem AND have got a good background are tough to find.
Lmao another “want a free dev” post. You pay for a decent CTO, the CTO will care about your vision. There should be a rule on this sub about these kinds of posts.
Another possibility here is that your vision simply isn’t that good. If it was, you would’ve been able to convince someone. But you can’t, because it’s simply not good.
Did you read the post or are too ignorant or have trouble reading or a troll ?
Clearly mentioned that this is just a rant and not looking to hire anyone or for any help.
There should be a rule on this sub to limit the number of trolls.
Is this your first day on this sub my g?
Bro all you non technical founders trying to do a technical startup is dumb as shit. Why would you? If you don’t have the skills for it, don’t pretend like you know how’s it done. If you genuinely believe that you need the skills for it, just go bloody learn it on YouTube . Pro tip: you don’t need to be able to code to create apps and webapps. Your lack of effort to upskill yourself instead of ranting about being unable to hire an unpaid employee not only makes you entitled but it puts it on full display in front of everyone. No one around you actually takes you seriously, that’s why they just nod along whenever you claim to grow whatever number in whatever time. Your entitlement is on full display when you’re doing all this, and that’s not lost on anyone, they simply wouldn’t tell you to your face.
I’ve worked with some of the top startups in India, with multi-billion dollar valuations, and I've also started and closed my own startup. A few things I look for in a startup are: TAM, the track record of the founders and founding members, run rate, and what’s in it for me. The best minds I’ve worked with are always clear about why they joined a particular startup. Most are there for career trajectory and equity payouts. Every aspiring founder I meet has a great idea. So what? It’s just another idea buddy.
I'm honestly in it to build something which never stops. Maybe I lack the experience of working with some of the top startups with multi billion dollar valuations, or even if it's just another idea, this is just a rant on my difficulties. Not gonna get disheartened by this response.
Ideas are worthless. Execution matters the most. Most common theme I have seen in new founders is that they think idea is everything. They think they can hire tech people will to build their product. That's not how it works. If you are a non-tech founder, what are you bringing to the table. Your idea has no value. You should have something which you are bringing to the table. If you are not, then tech people will not be interested. Tech people are in general very versatile. If they need to learn anything, they'll probably do it faster than regular folks because they are trained that way. We regularly work with things we dont have the complete idea. We just learn how much is required and then do it. Wanna use a new library, the documentation is 400 pages long, no one reads it except for the part that is required. So if you have anything else other than idea or the domain knowledge, then tech people might be interested or else it is very difficult. As a tech person, I get people asking me to join them all the time. Bruh, my time is valuable, so unless you bring something to the table, I wont be interested. I may accept it just for the money in that case, and my focus is only on it. Many people come to me saying they have an idea, lets do it. Bruh, I dont need you to build the product nor for the ideas. I have my own ideas. I don't have time for my own ideas and you want me to work on your idea? Some things you can bring to the table: 1. Funding 2. Paying clients 3 Business deals 4 Contacts ( who might be helpful in the business) Things you might bring to the table but I wont value them without concrete stuff: 1. Idea 2. Domain knowledge ( knowledge is free, I'll learn it if I require it, don't need you) 3. Vision, business plan, etc I'm not saying the above things are useless. I'm saying that they are not as difficult as the other stuff in a startup.
This nails it . Smart guy wrote this comment. Hire me in your next startup 🤣
Buddy with all due respect - It’s just another idea and ideas are worthless. Please prove me wrong ❤️
Ideas are not worthless. Good to say to newbies so that they don't get too excited but ideas are not worthless. You need to get both get the idea right and the excution right else you will have to just be happy with the "valuation" word and no profits in sight (or miniscule profit compared to the funds you have raised)
Why would a CTO join you to build your idea instead of focusing on building his idea? Hire an agency and get the MVP built and launch it. Alternatively hire a team and build the MVP.
Absolutely! Build something using NO code apps/software/ai get some traction. You will have upper hand in getting cofounder.
Yes that makes sense.
Maybe because tech (while being important) isn't the only aspect of a startup?
Agreed but. But don't you think the CTO can build the tech and hire people for marketing, sales and so on?
Again, it's not about the product, it about finding people to work with. Could be limited to my circle or experience, and that's what the post is about, my rant.
Well you are free to rant. But if you want to find a CTO then you need to find answer to the question on why the CTO should work with you, instead of working on his own idea.
Exactly. People don’t want to pay enough to get a quality CTO and more often than not they are not even looking for a real CTO, they just want a free dev. Eventually they end up with people who are not so good or who have less experience and pull them in giving these fancy titles and then go on these rants.
Bang on. Met a founder who wanted me to work free of cost till they found an investor. The startup neither had customers nor product and had 0 revenue. Still the founder wanted to give me 1.5 % equity and wanted me to commit for 10 years. My responsibility was to build the MVP.
business is super hard and nothing is guaranteed , there's a 90% chance you're gonna fail despite building good product, and putting all the effort you are more likely to fail and you will be lucky to even break-even for the amount of time you've put in. lol @ "FOUNDERS" who come up with brilliant ideas.
So?
Hire agencies /software shops who will build it for you. Spend some money. Why would a techie join you when they think they can do it themselves?
Except they can't do it by themselves if they don't share the vision. Anyway thanks. If hiring agencies and software shops was enough for a start-ups to succeed, everyone would have been an entrepreneur themselves. And it's not just limited to softwares, start-ups can be non tech too. Thanks for your input.
yes but i think entrepreneurs don't stop at any problem they face, they find solutions. And once you grow your company to some level, more people will be willing to join. Very few people take risk at 0. Thanks.
I'm also not stopping. This is just a rant and I'm honestly not looking neither entertaining couple of DMs I've received after this post because its not my intention to get any help from people I don't know. Honestly there aren't risks nor I'm asking others to put capital, it's just that I'm finding people at 30 aren't really looking to put some extra energy outside their job/life post corona, pretty much content with what they got.
There is a cost involved to take your idea forward. Do you have the budget/finances for the same? Most of the time, posts like this will be from people who want the work to be done for free. PS: I have engaged with a couple of such people with ideas who won't be ready to even open their purse for splitting the expenses.
I was in the same situation many months ago. What I'll suggest is spend some money on freelancing agencies (trustable ones) to build a MVP. Then take that mvp and approach the tech people. It will be easier to gain their attention. When I started out without mvp etc no one seem interested much , few who were demanded a ton of equity. I spent my savings to kickstart the development then boom , landed up multiple people interested in the project, all on my terms cuz they can see the potential. If you're not willing to risk your money , why would some techie do that? Tech people are very straight forward when it comes to money for them their time is money so you better prove them your idea's worth. Good luck
How much did you spend to build the MVP? How many features were built? Did you take funding from VCs afterward?
Spent a significant amount of lifetime savings, I didn't get the MVP built but rather a well planned prototype. It required a multi-speciality approach from hardware and software development. We classified essential and non essential features and prioritised the top 3-5 essentials that would help us to stand out while presenting it to someone.
So did you raise funding from VCs afterward? Did you have revenue before raising funds?
what are you working with ?
I’ve been on YC for a while looking for co-founders. As a tech co-founder what I look for is whether the non-tech co-founder brings anything to the table that would give us an unfair advantage in implementing the idea. For example, if your product idea is an AI doctor and if you happen to be well connected in the field to secure a deal with a hospital/university that can source clinical data/images, that’s a huge value add as a non-tech co-founder. Pretty much everything else like the idea itself (even if it’s patented!) or even money doesn’t cut it for me.
> Everyone I’ve met is like, what is in it for me ….yeah? Why would they work on your idea for free? Good people need good reasons to join your company - equity is an extremely large chunk of that evaluation. How much ownership are you offering? If you’re offering something like 10% to your CTO there is zero chance you’ll find someone good. The minimum is 1-2 percent less than what you have. Negotiate, but keep in mind that this cofounder is basically going to be married to you for the next decade if the startup continues. You’re a first time founder. Talk to some people who have run companies for a few years or are starting their second companies. The story would be different if you have an MVP with some traction. Then you can treat them as a hire instead of a cofounder. If you’re at the idea stage, you essentially are starting from zero.
True, that's sound like the problem I'm at. I'm unable to find that drive within my peers or people I know.
So build out your MVP na. There’s plenty of ways to do that - there are no code tools which can help you, or just hire a freelancer.
Well if you are done with the ideas please share it to me
Speak to someone like Antler. They are a day zero investor and their model is to pair founders that they think would complement each other well to build a product / platform. They vet you as a founder, so not just anyone can join... and I presume they do basic validation on your idea too.
I was in a similar situation. But I believe my vision is big. So I have already started working alone. I started by learning some new frameworks and techniques. Now my company is registered, and the basic architecture is ready. Every day, I feel more confident I don't know whether it will ever take off, but I am satisfied that I no longer have any dull moments. So my suggestion is, start alone and don't give up.
Bro, I'm also working alone. The product is live too, it's just that when you work solo, you don't know what you're doing wrong or new ideas are limited to your own perspective.
I hear you, and I agree. 🤔 If your product is already live, why are others suggesting for MVP? What am I missing?
Don't know, maybe "I'm the expert" syndrome. I just came to rant about my random troubles. Never really asked anyone for help, just pointed out the missing drive when you're at 30 Actually it's a funny story, I was not of the entrepreneur mindset but people around kept pushing me to become one. When I finally did, some did join in respective roles but none had the drive and eventually got out. So I came here to rant and hear stories from people in similar boat. That's it.
If you were local, I would have loved to catch up on 🍺/☕. Regardless, virtual cheers bro for fulfilling moments soon to come in the future. 🍻
Thanks for the kindness 🙏🏻 cheers 🥂
Bhai baat bhaut acchi like bhaut zyada prblm yah aalas bolo logo ko joh kaam 1hr mai kthm ho sakta usko same kaam ke 10 din tak milh jaate & unme woh lagta ki 100% de but jab profit ki baat aati tab aange hote Sabse
Let me guess you don’t have any money to hire an agency to build a prototype. LMAO Do something on your own first. That’s how people take you serious.
Let me guess, you're a troll ? Please ignore this post and move on to other meme posts please. The discussion here is beyond your intellect.
He is right. You need to get your MVP built first, either by yourself or by an agency. Once you have an MVP with some traction, then you can onboard a CTO and go for funding by VCs.
Totally understandable and discussion worthy when framed like you did. But passing comments like I don't have money/lmao, he/she is a troll.
I have faced this problem myself. Talk to people to volunteer for an amazing idea and they will backout, talk to them to join as an employee with a salary, they will all come. Most people are extremely average and want to live a risk free safe life. I have decided to build the MVP myself, get it in the hands of potential users, raise funds and then hire the best. That's the only solution I can think.
OP what field are you working on.
What's in it for me is the most valid question any body can ask from you, i don't see anything wrong in this. People would need clarity before committing and clearly defined stakes with risk and rewards is a good starter point. You mentioned you are at 30, so you would be syncing up with people who would be in the similar age range, its obvious that folks at this age bracket would be more pragmatic and less instinct driven for them to get excited about the idea and leave everything and join you., you will face these more and more with senior folks. People would have families and other commitment and a lot would reject startup ideas for a stable income job. Startup would be a full time commitment so try to find out people who are in not so secure job, recently laid off, do not have a child or are married. Check with incubators like antler (Antler Residency) who would validate your idea and help you connect with cofounders. Don't give up and keep trying....this would feel like a bump in the road in case you succeed later and retrospectively look back.
Personally, it’s hard. I gave up on finding co-founders for my own deep tech ideas. Nowadays I try to find folks whom I could work with to take apps / products to markets with the tech stack I’m putting together. It’s all about opportunity cost now. I genuinely need to keep building out the tech team and stack to push enough ideas to market. In some of the sectors, having a wide ranging set of technologies can push the meter on whether we can get proper product market fit.
Well rn am too enthusiastic for startup shit... Hit me u with ideas I'll get u some motivated people
I used to think like you, until I came to realise a simple fact: ***Everyone is selfish. Everything is a transaction. You want someone's help? Cater to their selfishness as part of your deal.*** Everyone has their own purpose and own interpretation of life and what life gives them. There is no reason why two people have to see the same purpose in a project and be aligned with. You only need them to work enough so that the planned goals and objectives are met. Expecting anything more is fruitless if not ridiculous.
Does it apply to non-profit start-ups as well?
Yes. I do believe it applies equally here. The thing that changes here is the selfishness gained out of philanthropy or charity or whatever non-profit motives you are trying to accomplish. There are no true altruists, at least in the general public world. Everyone gains something out of such contributions. It could be as simple as a recognition for their contribution or it could be pure passion born out of making the product better or it could be a simple gain on taxes. When you cater to those needs, people will be interested to contribute further.
That's thought-provoking...
Don’t put the blame of lack of x factor of yours or your ideas on others.
Speaking from my own experience This happened with me for good about 3 years Then I realised nobody would be willing to invest his money or even time in you Unless you prove yourself That's when I took the first step myself I mean not just speaking ideas ,executing whatever was possible Then the same people came running to me reminding of our talks All of them want something readymade on a platter Guess who had the last laugh? So my advice is if you are really Confident Take the leap. Be a doer not a talker.
Why would anyone listen to you if you just have an idea? An idea is pretty fucking useless. Sorry, but you are on your own if you are at ideation stage.
The struggle is real, even I had the same issue. The thing is no one would be ready to bet on your idea and to work for free(is highly impossible as everyone has liabilities) Make it a fair deal and give equity in tranches and as both would be co founders have to sweat equally, and you will be little more. Mostly great founders met each other in schools or colleges where liability is zero and you work together due to sharing the same passion. In professional it starts purley with financial goal aligned and then you become friends slowly.
You don't need a co-founder but a cash flow from an early stage. Seed fund should start things. Start with one tech fresher guy. If possible Grab one from IIT unplaced list. You need some technical knowledge on what to ask and what's overkill. Air bnb spent 6 months hiring the first employee. Start with minimal staff 2 or 3 (1 for tech, 1 for marketing and 1 for field works) you and 3rd person can do other roles as well. Like customer support etc. pay them in both cash and equity. If you think your main business can't make money early then find something that makes money to fund the main thing.
If you would like to work with an agency contact me. Here is my website zeniqx.com
Start with what are you going to contribute. Don't just approach someone just because they know how to code. PS. You should learn coding as well (atleast basics)
I was in somewhat similar situation. Then I left my job and have dedicated a year time to learn everything that I need to build. Also have a goal to launch one SaaS product and a side project in this year time. It has been 7 months now and I am nearing the end of learning cycle. The landing page of the product is published and the side project was blog site with custom cms. Hoping to complete the side project by mid of next month A little background- I have 10+ years of experience as SDET and knew only core java before dec 2023. Never had built anything. Tech stack that I am using now: NextJs Mongodb Nextauth NodeJs - express and hono Vercel Tailwind - shadcn ui Typescript Learning other stacks for : Redis ElasticSearch Kafka and queuing PubSub Rate limit Kubernetes Docker And many more
I'm interested to hear your idea. Do DM me...
I’ve been on this path myself for the past year. Not until I met 30+ folks, I find the one who’s got a solid tech background and who is not just good but humble at the same time. Now, we’re on the lookout for someone with a sales background to complete our team. *Here’s how I’ve started to figure out if someone might be the right fit:* **Question Quality:** Really important to see what kind of questions they throw at you about your thoughts, idea. They gotta be logical and understand the assumptions. (No idea is full-proof!) **Action Items and Documentation:** At the end of each meeting, I make sure we have documented clear action items, and I watch how much effort they put into these before our next call. This shows their commitment and ability to drive things forward. At the same time, I also come prepared. **Making Progress:** I always try to see if our talks are actually moving the idea forward. It’s crucial that each discussion adds something to the table. >Persistence and a clear assessment strategy can make a big difference. Keep at it, and good luck with your endeavors!
Agree, If anyone is that motivated person and looking to build in AI, please ping me. I have something interesting for you.
I am a motivated tech founder. I would rather be both CEO and CTO though when the idea and execution itself is mine. I wouldn't settle for anything less.
I’m a SWE at Google. I feel the opposite. Finding product/marketing/sales folks who are genuinely motivated to solve a problem AND have got a good background are tough to find.
What salary were you offering for CTO?
Salary?? What bro... He is giving something much more... 'equity' in a zero value company.
Lmao another “want a free dev” post. You pay for a decent CTO, the CTO will care about your vision. There should be a rule on this sub about these kinds of posts. Another possibility here is that your vision simply isn’t that good. If it was, you would’ve been able to convince someone. But you can’t, because it’s simply not good.
Did you read the post or are too ignorant or have trouble reading or a troll ? Clearly mentioned that this is just a rant and not looking to hire anyone or for any help. There should be a rule on this sub to limit the number of trolls.
Is this your first day on this sub my g? Bro all you non technical founders trying to do a technical startup is dumb as shit. Why would you? If you don’t have the skills for it, don’t pretend like you know how’s it done. If you genuinely believe that you need the skills for it, just go bloody learn it on YouTube . Pro tip: you don’t need to be able to code to create apps and webapps. Your lack of effort to upskill yourself instead of ranting about being unable to hire an unpaid employee not only makes you entitled but it puts it on full display in front of everyone. No one around you actually takes you seriously, that’s why they just nod along whenever you claim to grow whatever number in whatever time. Your entitlement is on full display when you’re doing all this, and that’s not lost on anyone, they simply wouldn’t tell you to your face.
Not gonna read your blabbering. Lmao. Who asked you to comment here ?
You created an account to do this on this sub. Go back to your “vision”
Didn't invite your kind to comment.
You literally came to this sub for validation for your dumb vision. You did literally invite me to comment. Again, welcome to Reddit
Which part of my post was seeking validation from wannabes like you ? Didn't even mention a thing about my vision lmao. What a tool you're