Finding a co-founder?

Sharing my own experience.

I would say don't rush. My first venture failed because I trusted my co-founder too quick. It takes time to know a person. It's far better to go alone until you find the right person.

I am using a different strategy. I have started a facebook group on entrepreneurship. The goal is to create a community, meet some people and eventually "discover " a co-founder. I don't want to rush. This takes time. More like finding a date or a good friend.

Good question, is there any platform like that around? I'm also interested.

What are you building?

Hey, I'd love to learn more about your ideas. I run Paperclip (https://pprclp.co) and we have design expertise, sales processes and development help as well.

Hey there, try this blog called' takethebait' https://www.veed.io/takethebait/, they have many first-hand stories from founders, they explain how they found their co-founders, I think it could be useful!

I need a technical co-founder for my 'career progression for makers' SaaS. I'm a designer, but would be focused on sales, marketing etc. too for sure. MVP site here http://progression.fyi

Check out my latest newsletter for more about where I'm at. https://twitter.com/jonnyburch/status/1017720169123254272

I'll drop you an email too.

Hey @kbnet I'm a bit late to the party, but I built a website specifically for this purpose!

Give it a try:
https://cohounder.com

Hi KB,

Its not easy finding a co-founder to be honest. I am desperately looking for a technical co-founder since my main partner of over 11 years lost interest in working due to a nasty divorce.

Its usually better to work on a trial basis almost like a relationship and gradually work your way through as you dont want to get stuck with someone you do not enjoy working with.

My advice, talk and get to know each other and see how you can compliment each other in getting shit done. If you are interested in talking, I am looking for a co-founder to take on a project already started. Let me know if you are interested in talking.

Cheers

Agree with the advice on some sort of a trial/"dating" period.
You also want someone whose interests/skills align with the market you are going after.
If your SaaS happens to be in the B2B marketing/sales area I'd be interested to talk. I work in outsourced sales for a few early stage SaaS companies through TechCrowds.com; ideally looking for a single long term partner/cofounder to focus on.

Congrats on getting to the next step in the startup journey. Momentum > your actual idea. A lot of great people have already commented here. I'll just say ..trust your gut. Don't be too attached to one founder or the other. Be judicious to pick someone who demonstrates that he/she will show up consistently and keep their eye on the long run. They should have a chip on their shoulder (preferably a previously failed startup) but nonetheless make you feel good about your contribution and still complementing you on the business side. I've some personal experiences and happy to help if you like to hear more.

Lot of good answers in the Comments section below. Only thing I would add is

• Create your product and try to sell and market it to at least 10 people on your own.
• You will realize with that exercise what is missing and what quality you are looking for in a Co-Founder
• All of us in Marketing and Sales can do a lot of things if we put our mind to it, but its about finding someone who is passionate about the problem statement as you are
• Testing for passion is impossible and the only way is to do a 2 month test run with your potential founders to make sure the person is a right fit

Without knowing what your app is or does here's my two cent.
Instead of asking to find a co-founder here on IH as some of the folks here tend to judge you based on what you're willing to invest instead of giving tips or ideas, try this. Write down the problem you're app is solving and 3 bulleted points on how your app solves it. Spend $5 on FB and make sure you're hyper focused on who your target market is with a link to your landing page where they can either enter their email info or sign up. Keep track of the results and keep iterating until you find the right copy. If your app is a B2B app, try LinkedIn ads. Eventually you'll have a list of interested folks. After a while, you will validate whether not there's a need for your app and also have a list of leads to present to a potential co-founder that can help with biz dev. Good luck.

Finding a good co-founder to work with is not an easy task. Especially if you have no working history with the people you are looking to work with.

My recommendations is start by asking for advice and getting feedback. Don't try to rope them in to being a co-founder right away. Get time with them to show them your product, share your vision, and share the challenges you are having that are outside of your area of expertise.

Have specific asks for their input and don't balk or get offended at whatever they tell you. Get comfortable hearing things you don't want to hear and be sure to ask them to elaborate. Be open to diving into their ideas vs. just yours. This way you can get an understanding about their vision and see how it aligns with yours.

Finding people to get feedback from tends to be a bit easier than finding a co-founder. You can use your local community (via meet up), online communities, and linked in. Becoming co-founders is about building a good working relationship with someone.

One warning, as a technical person I'm sure people have reached out to you looking to build their idea for them. Don't be that person looking for someone to just handle the stuff you can't do. Look at that person as someone that brings insight to expand the vision vs. just execute the vision. If you're looking for someone to just execute, then you may as well hire or pay for someones expertise.

This question is popping up a lot here on Indie Hackers at the moment.

Finding a good marketing/sales cofounder is really hard, because so many people say/think they can do it, but so few actually can. And it's a lot harder to test for than technical skills.

Posting on here is a good start though.

Out of interest, would you pay $100 for access to an up to date list of high-quality, Louis-approved, potential marketing/sales cofounders?

They are also looking for co-founders:
http://makehub.io/makers?lookingfors=%2Ccofounder

There's not many now, but who knows...!