3 builders who never spoke to each other

Find the co-founder in a friendship, not a search

You cannot go looking for a partner, but you can write down the requirement: aligned goals, honesty, skills that differ from yours and the same picture of where this is going. The pairs that worked here came out of relationships with real history, or out of turning up at meetups and hackathons with domain knowledge and a half-built thing.

The method

1. 01

   You do not find a cofounder by deciding to look for one. What you can specify is the requirement: aligned goals, cultural fit, transparent communication, and complementary rather than overlapping skills.

2. 02

   A cofounder comes out of a friendship that already has real world touchpoints behind it, not out of a search.

3. 03

   Screen a potential newsletter partner on three things and do not compromise: honesty, skills that differ from yours, and the same view of where this is going. Prefer someone you already know.

4. 04

   To attract a technical co-founder, turn up at every meetup and hackathon carrying domain expertise, a specific idea and enough coding ability to be dangerous.

5. 05

   At a hackathon, pitch your market understanding to the room to recruit the strongest people in attendance onto your project for the weekend.

What it returned

• $2,000

  Arriving with a clear grasp of the market and a product already part-built let the pair attract the best developers, designers and marketers present and take the top prize of $2,000 plus free incorporation from a major law firm

• Met on the platform two years earlier, then in person at a dinner, then in constant contact before working together.

• That combination drew a decent number of interested developers, one of whom moved into the author's apartment two weeks after meeting and produced a working proof of concept in a week

• Justin's collaborations with Carl and with Marty both beat what he'd have produced by himself.

Sources

• End of an eraJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · End of an era · undated
• Ideas aren't cheapJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Putting our ideas into action · undated
• Friday Feature: Office PartyTyler Parker · sparkloop.app · ✏️ Steal this for your newsletter · undated
• Closing SolarList: a cleantech post-mortem - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · Bootstrapping is hard · 2014-11-14
• How to find a cofounder for your businessLuca Restagno · solopreneurtofreedom.com · How to find a cofounder for your business · 2024-02-11
• I found a co-founder and a new SaaS to buildLuca Restagno · solopreneurtofreedom.com · I found a co-founder and a new SaaS to build · 2024-05-19