Ask HN: What did you wish you knew before you partnered with a developer? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What did you wish you knew before you partnered with a developer?

24 pointsbeekums6 comments

There's a lot of focus around finding technical cofounders, but just because you find a technical cofounder willing to work with you doesn't mean they have strong skills. For those who have made mistakes with technical cofounders or just hiring developers in general: what do you wish you knew?

View on HN

Making anyone a "partner" is hard. Really hard. Whether it is a co-founder or life partner. I will give you some general advice first before specifically talking about technical cofounders.

Don't just partner with someone you met on the internet right away. Do a project with them. Collaborate on some throw away stuff. Write a to do list together , whatever. The idea is to see if they can even commit to something like that. Build something with them even if not a software project. Go hang out with them, socialize, hit the bars whatever. See how they are.

I really think that a cofounder cannot be magically "found" but more like you worked with someone for a while and realized that they could be a good potential cofounder. You already trust them and know their work. Otherwise, you are taking a huge risk and it almost always ends up bad for both parties.

Yes, I am sure outliers are there but they are outliers. If you really want to find a co-founder, make sure you have enough time with them as non-cofounder before you even think of moving on with that step.

Remember, the real test of a "partner" in anything is not when things are great. It is when things go south and I can assure you they WILL. How your partner/cofounder behaves during the tough times will tell you all about them. You hope to have an idea about that before you even commit to be a cofounder.

As someone who's gone through the inverse of this question, i.e. partnering with a non-technical person, I think the answer would be the same for both sides of the coin. The #1 thing I wish I knew back then was how important it is to determine early on if someone is all talk and no action. There are certain toxic people out there who will promise you the world, fail to execute, then bring you down with them. Do your due diligence. Trust but verify.

I agree with this 100%. Some non-technical person that I've worked with were just living inside a bubble. It's really difficult to work with someone that doesn't contribute other than talk, especially when they are just waiting on you to finish with the development. If the product flops, they take zero responsibility, drops the ball, and you end up with wasted time.

To follow up on this: don't verify based on what they're telling you. Anyone can tell a story. Look at their past and who they've worked with (either professionally or personally).

You don't identify toxic people based off how they interact with you. You identify them from the impact craters they leave behind. (And if they figure out how hide by no longer causing damage, then good - that was the entire point).

Try to determine which skills will be most important for getting your business off the ground,

For example take 10 developers, even if they are all great they will have different strong points. Some devs will have a strong product design/UX intuition, others will be strong at building platforms/performance/scaling.

Also assess non-tech skills. Can they be effective with marketing, writing, speaking, negotiations?

The point is picking the right strengths for your mission, and the right strengths to complement your own skills is a big deal.

I suggest making equity vest over time. Don't just split the company up. Everyone is entitled to their fair share but only if they put in the time.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com