Ask HN: How do I find my co-founder? I'm in the UK, currently studying in uni and interested in startups. I would like to know how can I find my cofounder in the UK, everyone seems to be conservative and no one my age wants to aim big. I have reached out to friends and friends of my friends, and they all say no for various but similar reasons. Does anyone have any advice for finding a young talented cofounder in the UK? (Btw if you're young, from the UK and know how to code then let's connect) |
In short: build things you are interested in with people who are also interested in those things. Don't call it a startup at first; just make projects.
Investors don't invest in projects, they invest in businesses.
Without investment, you might not have enough money to pay your next months' rent or your next hospital bill.
If this doesn't apply to you and you can hack at projects without financial concerns, great, but you're already in the privileged group, like PG himself, and disconnected from the reality of 80-90% of people.
If you're 100% focused on your startup and trying to make a living, then it's a different story, I agree.
Angels invest in projects.
- I've heard lots of success stories with On Deck https://www.beondeck.com
Are you "the brains" looking for a business partner, or are you the business partner looking for engineers? Also, do you have something to bring to the table other than guts?
Depending on answers to these questions, you might be able to find places where your potential partner likes to hang out, and you could visit them there, or present something to make them come to you instead.
Get started, especially if you have a fire to succeed.
In my experience I wasted time trying to find a co founder and either found quitters or people who lack confidence and skills.
Just start by yourself.
Unless you’re working on something extraordinary (beyond saas or some other software company) you shouldn’t waste time looking for a co founder.
IMO.
I’m sure I will be told differently by people with survivorship bias. But take it from me as someone who doesn’t fit into that cookie cutter mold. You can still be successful.
Just a point. Nobody any age really wants to aim big. You'll often have to go at it yourself and in your pursuits make the "big" seem more surmountable. That's when they'll want to tag along.
A common manifestation of this is the pivot but there are others.
Dating app or running club? Both may get you a date. One gets you fit and makes you friends if you fail.
Made friends? They introduce you to a date...
Sometimes a co-founder finds you.
One is run by y combinator.
Open questions are: why do you really need a cofounder? Are you some idea guy? The technical people probably dont want to team up with a student that has nothing to show.
If your idea is good, how do you know someone wont steal it?
Can you build your product on your own? Or by hiring someone? That removes a lot of issues later.
- See if your university has an entrepreneurial program or club.
- Look up uni alumni who have started their own company which has failed and see if they want to do another.
- Apply as an early employee to a startup and start building your network.
- Forgo a co-founder, just do it yourself.
That's the same everywhere. Media has to find something to share so normal people don't get much attention. Imagine today's news being "just another day".
Competence and risk-on is a rare combination everywhere (which is why it can be so highly rewarded).
The effort will pay off 1,000 times in your lifetime.
It sounds like you have ideas. Having a specific vision in your head of what you want to build is the best way to learn to code because it gives you a clear goal.
You will never hear someone drop out of uni to start a startup in the UK.
I am probably just comparing it to the US, but like why shouldn't you? The UK is a hub for smart people, but I guess not courageous people.
You can't afford to take the risks on a middling salary, and there are not many investors locally either so you basically bootstrap on meagre savings, and then have no one to sell the idea to anyway.
Even if not intereseted in AI.
so show them
make something. hook a significant investor. clinch a deal
show them you are business, not just a dreamer
I completely understand tech peoples reluctance to engage with 'genius' business people and their 'revolutionary' genius business ideas.
that paid dividends
I often get people asking me to "just" build them and app or "just" write them and e-commerce site, or "just" code up a podcast distribution electron app and backend infrastructure with LLM recommendations for windows, Linux, macros, iOS, and android because hey they've done the hard part of thinking up the idea, now they "just" need someone to code it and run it for them and they'll be rich! How hard can that be? Jeez cooooome on! Just code it! Stop being lazy! /s
Most programmers who can pull that sort of thing off will see the complexity and hard work a mile off so the potential of the idea needs to be genuinely and honestly decent (no "like Uber for ..." nonsense)
Building stuff of anything apart from the most trivial things is hard. Going to uni on the UK is one of the most expensive places in the world - people there are already taking huge amounts of debt to come out with a degree which in itself is a big risk as there is no guarantee of a payoff at the end. Anyone smart will be hoping to come out with a good degree with the hopes of getting a well-paying job at the end of it, not pissing it all up the wall.
I'd recommend to knuckle down and concentrate on your studies first. If you don't know how to program yourself, use your spare time to do so and just build stuff and get experience. Launch a few solo-dev things to again experience and get exposure.
Good luck.
Also, I do launch projects of my own all the time, I am trying to understand how the exposure part works.
You wanna be an entrepreneur? Just because? Honestly thats just not smart.
You wanna be rich? Unicorn rich? Honestly thats just not going to happen.
I had the itch to do 'something' but i never just wanted to make a business out of that. But i had plenty of ideas or i'm seeing a lot of niches were you could make it as a normal small it company being independent from others.
I only started to become an entrepreneur when i met a friend who had something i could relate to, a good business idea in a good niche with the potential to make it in a sense of i will be able to pay myself a 6 figure salary while already making a 6 figure salary.
There is a small chance that i might get a little bit more out of that company than a self managed stable job with a good salary (like 100-400k) but thats it.
Honestly the best bet by far is to try to get into big well paying companies like Google etc.
You are at an uni right? Go to hackathons, go to startup meetups, go to accelerators, make sure to be good in something. But pls don't just want to become an entrepreneur just for the sake of becoming a entrepreneur.
Sure but living in Bumblefuck, Arkansas you'll be unlikely to find a good cofounder. Oakland is cheap but you might get shot. Places with BOTH peace of mind and talented people cost money.
> Live with family.
Families are often toxic and unsupportive of doing startups.
> Cross a border if needed.
This however is actually a good suggestion if you go to the right places.
2020 happened though. Why do you physically need to meet your cofounder? Maybe make a million then treat yourself to go see them!