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(sigh)

Do you bring anything to the table? I mean come on, my mother has ideas AND friends. And she is really a mother-type, not just "sort of" a mother type.

As a non-hacker myself, here's my suggestion:

Figure out the bare-bones alpha version of your idea. Spec it out as detailed as you possibly can.

Now take that doc and pitch it to a developer in your town, in person. Meet them for coffee, buy them a beer, whatever. Just get them in person to pitch them on the idea.

If you can't get a single programmer to meet with you...you're not really a "business-type".

"business-types" can close deals and convince people (yes, even programmers!) to join them.

Scott, I do in fact have more than just an idea. Thus far, I have been able to close deals. I bring previous entrepreneurial experience, a solid understanding of business, business plan development experience, a network of management consultants, capital and connections to VC, and perhaps most importantly, a scrappy, fire-in-the-belly desire to bring my idea to market.

I described myself as a "business-type sort of" because I am not a hacker myself, AND I am not a suit. While I understand and very much like business, I wanted to communicate to readers that I am not your traditional NY businessman that wears a three-piece suit and has an aura of Armani cologne.

Thank you for your advice on building an alpha version of the idea, and taking that to programmers. This is the type of feedback I was seeking from my post. I have not tried to convince programmers of my idea yet, so the jury is out on whether or not I am really a business-type.

As a non-hacker yourself, I am curious as to what brings you to the HN forums? I hope you were not offended by satirical post, and I do thank you for your response.

The more I learn about programming (I'm slowly teaching myself), the better I can communicate and eventual hack myself.

Plus HN has some of the best tech/biz news around.

What on earth does it mean to "html and css your way through MIT or Stanford?" It seems like you're trivializing degrees from top universities, as well as overstating the difficulty of HTML and CSS.

If your ideas are so great, take a few weeks and learn a programming language. Then, build your app yourself. You don't have to be a technical whiz to build something that runs. When you have some users your idea will be validated and maybe people will be more inclined to meet with you.

Bend, thanks for your response. Clearly you missed the meaning of my satirical tone in my post. For that, I apologize. I was simply trying to evoke a response from the reader so that my post was not overlooked among the hundreds of posts. In that regard, I achieved my goal.

I value greatly degrees from top universities, especially MIT and Stanford. I do understand the difficulty of HTML and CSS, and I am envious of the technical geniuses that are able to build applications using them. My point was that it takes more than excellent programming knowledge to build a useful application for users, AND turn it into a successful business venture. Many programmers are great at building apps, but may not know how to build a successful business from it (Or, they may know exactly how).

I am not stating my idea is great, as I have not pitched it to programmers or users yet. I appreciate your advice on building the app myself though. Another reader suggested a similar idea, and I believe it is a good course of action.

I hope I have conveyed that the tone in my post was merely to illicit a response from readers, and was not intended to trivialize degrees or technical abilities.

This is just a suggestion, but it might make sense to post a CV, a LinkedIn profile, or something similar that gives interested individuals a better sense of who you are and what you're bringing to the table.

There are hackers out there looking for a "business guy" to "marry," but... the "business guy" has to bring more to the table than just an idea. If I partnered up with a "business guy" I'd be expecting somebody with some serious chops when it comes to prospecting and selling (and closing!), some useful connections to potential customers, partners and/or investors, and some knowledge of how to do business development and marketing. And if he knows at least a little bit about accounting and taxes, that would be a bonus.

But wanna-be Jack Welches who think their idea alone is enough to stand on, "if I can just find a hacker to build it" are a dime a dozen. So don't be surprised when you don't find a veritable onslaught of hackers lining up to beat down your door.

Anyway, to answer your question "Where to find a good hacker?" Well... there are lots of places. Starting here is a decent bet, but look for meetups in or near your town... if there is a HN meetup, or any technical user-group (Ruby User's Group, Java User's Group, Linux User's Group, Perl Mongers, whatever) go find them and start hanging out with those folks. Use LinkedIn, poke around sites like Quora and the various StackExchange sites... just don't be too obnoxious with the solicitations, or you'll piss off people who might otherwise be willing to help.

CS departments at area universities might give you useful leads as well. But read this:

http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2010-1...

before calling up CS professors.

Some other food for thought:

http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2010-1...

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2010/10/05/social-network...

Mindcrime, your post has been the most inspirational and informational. Thank you!

I will share these articles (especially the first one from the CS professor) with a lot of my business colleagues. There is an unspoken feeling that "business guys" can never learn to program to implement their ideas. Or, "hackers" are completely inept at understanding business, and should focus only on building their application.

This is the conversation I wish my post would have evoked - the "marriage" of business understanding and technical ability. (Admittedly, my tone may have come across as obnoxious to technical readers, which was not my intent.)

After your post, and comments from other readers, I am much more inspired to gain at least some technical skills to building a working prototype for my idea. While I feel my skills are best suited to pitch the idea, write the business plan, raise capital, sell to potential customers, etc. I feel having the technical ability, to a certain extent, would enable me to execute the idea. Or, if nothing else, give me more credibility among programmers who may otherwise see me as solely an "idea man".

In any regard, thank you for your comment and advice.

Sorry to break the news, but...

"I'm your Winkelvoss, be my Zuckerberg" is NOT a good pitch to hackers.

Or maybe you are just joking?

Revorad, your last inclination is correct. As I explained in previous comments, I do bring more to the table than just an idea. Thank you for recognizing the sarcasm, and irony of Winkelvoss and Zuckerberg.

Oh good, so you at least have a sense of humour. But you would do better to fill your profile details and be your true person here. Don't hide your identity, don't hide your ideas. Flesh out the details or you will not get the best response possible.

What businesses have you built? Who do you know? Can you name some names? How much cash can you bring to the table? How much PR power do you have? Do you write a popular blog? Can you call someone at the NYTimes or WSJ to get featured?

Details. That's where it's at.

I definitely have a sense of humour! That's good advice too, thank you.

My fear (and I know this is common among many entrepreneurs) is to fully lay out an idea for someone, and have Mark say that he is working on the idea for you. When in reality he's secretly building his own application based on your idea.

Maybe it's not so bad to be a Winklevoss. Didn't they receive a $65 million settlement? :)

Put your email in your profile so people can contact you. Next, check my profile and contact me.

I'm highly skeptical of a 'business type' with no friends, but I'll always entertain what you have to say.

Also, the next Mark Zuckerberg no longer needs an Eduardo Saverin, he can get a server for free from Google, Amazon, or spend $5 a month on a dreamhost account.

You also say that you need a business model, yet reference Zuckerberg. Facebook is the prototypical VC funded company with no business model, until a few hundred million into VC. Yes, Facebook finally found one, and is now profitable. LinkedIn is also VC funded.

Fleitz, I thought I had included my email in my profile. I will review your profile and be in touch shortly.

Can you create an application without having any idea of a business model? Sure. But why would you? I am certainly not opposed to VC funding. In fact, it's essential in many cases. I think it's smarter to have a business model in mind behind your application though. That's just my opinion. Anyone is free to disagree. That's what makes these forums so intellectually stimulating.

Good analogy to Mark and Eduardo by the way.

The email you put in the email field is not visible to others (bad design, I know). You need to put it in the about field.

Got it, thanks!

Although I didn't go to MIT or Stanford, I never learnt HTML or CSS in university. No, that's not what a Computer Science degree teaches.

That's interesting. Just curious, did you teach yourself HTML and CSS? And what did a CS degree teach you?

I may be interested in learning how to program.

Computer science does not equal programming. Yes, programming is a part of computer science but you learn a heck of a lot more from a computer science degree. You learn about algorithms, computational complexity, lots of math, logic and a lot more. You learn how to use a computer to solve hard problems and how to identify patterns in problems that others have already solved. A lot of it is theoretical; you won't be taught how to build a web site.

If you wan't to learn how to program just enough to validate your idea, then perhaps taking a computer science degree might be a little overkill. Read some tutorials and just start programming easy stuff and work your way up.

http://railsforzombies.org/

Start there.

Thanks dyc, I will be sure to use the site as I try to develop my technical knowledge.