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Should I Recruit A Coder As Co-Founder For An Innovative Media Startup?

Should I Recruit A Coder As Co-Founder For An Innovative Media Startup?

How do I recruit a coder as co-founder for an innovative media-startup?

This question originally appeared on Quora, the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answers below are by David Abrams, Gordon Miller, Christopher Rose,
Joelseph Hines, Jeff Hawkins, AP Dubey, Jason Barber, Mihr Aharuni and Bill Carson.

David Abrams, Co-Founder at Demio (2014-present)

Answered Jan. 3

Are you sure you need a co-founder and not someone like a CTO or lead engineer?

If you’re looking for a partner who can support a side for equity instead of payment, then you’ll want to deeply consider what that means. A co-founder needs to be someone you trust, know, and can see yourself “married” to. You’ll be spending thousands of hours together building something very hard and it’s not easy to break up once that partnership is made and equity shared.

That said, you would want to be patient and network in specific areas that might have the technical level engineering talent you may want to meet. Places like SaaS events, Coding events, and Startup jobs (Seriously getting a job is a great way to meet and network into the area you want to go).

You could also hire recruiting firms, go to sites where you can find co-founders looking for business partners, but often times these are built on the wrong foundation (looking for business rather than real trust).

I often look to hire a Lead Engineer and pay them salary with limited vested equity and that person be someone who can grow and evolve in their role.

This person is usually responsible for building the Minimal Viable Product and get the initial marketing plan outlined so we can get real validation and feedback from the marketplace.

As feedback comes in, we’d want to make new features and updates based on customer needs. Once we get to a point where we are validated and found market fit, we can expand and that role can expand by going a funding route or just bootstrapping and beginning new hiring when budgets permit.

Gordon Miller, Entrepreneur and Investor

Answered Dec. 30

You don’t. That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of. You are not going to co-found a company with a complete stranger when you have no idea what if anything they will do to make you a success or not. Even college roommates or classmates are not a good choice since 90% of those blow up before you ever get your product to market.

If you need to bring in a technical partner, I would suggest bringing someone like me or Scott Davis who have an entire army of developers behind us to help you. I have been doing this for more than 25 years and while I may take 50% of the opportunity, you will have the satisfaction of knowing it will get done right.

Christopher Rose, MD (2015-present)

Answered Jan. 2

Personally, I would recommend finding someone you like and trust, rather than leaping into bed with partners whose interests and motives will inevitably be aligned differently to your own…

Take the time to get it right or be prepared for stress.

Joelseph Hines, Web Developer at OneSky Flight (2017-present)

Answered Dec. 30

1.You make some awesome friends.
2.You have an awesome idea.
3.You hope that someone has enough free time to help.

Our time is very valuable, and at any one time, a ton of people are always asking us to work on “the next big idea.” For your idea to hold any water with most people, you will need a solid

  • MVP
  • Initial launch plan
  • Investors or solid plans for investors
  • Growth plan

With those in mind, you might inspire a software engineer or two to join you as aco-founderr.

Jeff Hawkins, works at Paradigm Domains

Answered Dec. 21

There used to be a few plugins for various CMSs and a few stand alone web apps for doing this.

The above search might suggest something if you wish to use a WordPress-based solution. The Aesop plugin looks promising but I have no experience with it.

The problem I’ve seen with this is where you write the first line or paragraph to start the story and another writer then takes the story in a odd or totally unintended direction. Someone has to be in charge! (I think that Aesop plugin might structure things a little better but I could be wrong).

It can be funny but often winds up being malicious and a place for spammers to take over the thread.

AP Dubey, Writer, Youtuber, Personal Coach at Self-Employment (2012-present)

Answered Monday

If you want to fail in your idea you should do that.

I actually did that with my best friend and result was terrible. When you hire someone to live you dream, they don’t see the dream but they see only their profit or outcome. They do not show patience, if you ask them to make changes in your product they get angry because they are not making money with it and they would never accept their mistake.

My startup idea was a big failure regardless of (the) amazing idea. People want us to perfect our work but I do not have a team at this time so I cannot make it perfect. I will not work with my existing partner anymore.

So, now you understand what I mean to say.

Save some money, hire a coder as your employee and ask him to do the work.

Jason Barber, Headhunter, Search Firm Entrepreneur

Answered Monday

1.Pay a search firm to find you one. It’s the most expensive route but you know you’ll get results.

2.Find one yourself by targeting adjacent companies who already have a product/service similar to yours. Go on LinkedIn and see who’s currently a developer on their staff. Give them an offer they can’t refuse.

Mihr Aharuni

Answered Friday

You have two options. Sharing your business with someone who has done before it like Mr. Miller suggested, or do it yourself. Go to your local college, and find the brightest college kids to assist you. This is cheaper than giving a large chunk of your business away, but it is also the hard way. Be ready to face problems every step of the way. It all depends on you. Are you willing to give half of your business away for an easy ride? That half may worth millions a few years from now. On the other hand, if you don’t get help you may give up and your business will never become profitable.

Bill Carson, former Scientific

Answered Sunday

Start with Indeed or Craigslist. Lot’s of people post resumes there.

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