Warning signs in a non-technical cofounder (can you spot them?)
blog.hirelite.com
blog.hirelite.com
There are fairly few movies where someone bestows money, a name or an idea on the interesting characters and ends up being really important to the plot.
You want Aragorn, not Elrond, as your cofounder. (Naturally I think of geeks as hobbits.)
P.S. Your co-founder should say the same about you. If you're a tool rather than a partner, fleeeeeeeee.
However, I'm leaning on considering it an anti pattern because it borders on a pathological amount of ego.
A better rubric in my mind is, "Can I picture this person in my daily life, for the next decade?" as a slightly more sane variant of this test.
These happen to be wonderful warning signs for a technical co-founder, too.
I think the biggest indicator, that isn't necessarily on the list, is if they have learned to code AT ALL. They don't need to be a master coder, even if the know some basic JavaScript and C, and they learned it for the startup, at least it shows they're willing to put in the effort, and are attempting to meet you on some level. I don't see how someone can start a company and be completely in the dark about how it's built.
Even if you disregard that it's a disrespectful and rude thing to do during a conversation, this person is trying to sign you up for a major role in their future and already he can't focus on the task at hand.
The best founders I've had the pleasure of meeting are usually the most respectful and attentive people. Not only do they completely focus on what you're saying but they make you feel like there's no one more important right now than you.
Fortunately I said no.
The first thing that comes to mind is arrogance. It certainly puts me off, but it seems like you need a good dose of arrogance to think you can solve a daunting problem.
Warning sign 0: they're asking you to be a technical co-founder before you know anything about the product.
You might not do construction yourself but the more you know the better it will turn out being the non-technical general contractor.
I like the one rule a-lot: Ignore them if they have no expertise in the area they're wanting to startup in. Its fine if they don't program.
If you do get involved with a non-tech cofounder, don't take equity or deferred income. Startups are a little like dating in the beginning, there's no need to get married before you ever work together. Someone should pay for your time instead of expecting it for free.
If being paid for your time is working well it's easy to figure out ownership after. If the non-tech cofounder is not willing to put his money where his mouth is, it might be full of something else.
Even as a developer, when I've gotten help on an idea from a friend or colleague I always pay them and say do as much as you can for me, this is my money out of my own pocket. Since us developers are a egalitarian helpful bunch often they want to just help as friends but I make sure to pay because it's just respecting their time and saying hey, if this goes somewhere, we can always figure that out. I've never lost a friendship/colleage relationship this way.
Marketing can be a huge grind. Being able to build buzz about your product, or get mentioned in the press, or find customers is very time-consuming and requires a lot of creativity.
Wireframes might not eliminate risk, but "has wireframes" is a great metric to add to the list for selecting a bizdev guy. The leap from "idea" to "screens/wireframes that outline how the fantasy product should function" is surprisingly difficult for a lot of non tech cofounders.
The willingness and ability to even create the wireframes with sensible description of how the product works separates the top 10%.
If someone comes to you with just an idea tell them to build the wireframes, you'll be surprised how few people come back.
I guess the one that springs to mind for me is someone who has previously launched some startups and had some success ...
That's actually pretty rare, in my experience. But, it's how I've seen several non-tech companies start, basically.
The non-technical co-founder should BE that guy. Not know that guy. I get THAT one a lot.
Looking back, I think that's the only way to go. That, or at least learn enough to have a decent conversation with technical people so when you ask them to do something, you know how big of a pain in the ass you are being.
Sure, it will be a bigger risk if that person has no startup experience, but if they've been working in the X-industry for years, are passionate about said industry and believe they've identified a major (and preferably disruptive) opportunity, that significantly improves the odds.
This post reiterates a few keys points we all know. Don't hire or work with assholes (an entire book on it), and focus.
Boy, how well I can relate to this!! Web development is not a magic bullet. Why is it hard to understand that fact..
Also, be aware of your target market and understand the necessary government rules and regulations so that they don't derail your startup.
GoDaddy buys superbowl ads - buying a domain is very mainstream.
I have seen the "multiple startups in the works" thing though- that is definitely not a good sign.
The cure has been to get the relative involved in the fiasco, where I'll do the work, but they have to be involved. By the time all the poop hits the fan, they finally got a hefty dose of what we have to go through.
In the most recent one-of-these, the serial entrepreneur brainwashed my sister into believing that his new idea does everything and will make us all millionaires. His previous adventures resulted in crashes (or paranoid delusions that the oil companies killed off his customers), and he whined about the folks who "left him stranded". He didn't own the domains of the previous adventures. He didn't own this domain (I made my sister set this one up, so it is hers). As this project got closer to something sellable, he got crazier and crazier and then decided to dilute my sister and my shares (1/3 each) to 1/20th each as he wanted to bring on "friends" he had shafted during previous misadventures. The sad thing is that my sister used to be a developer before getting trapped in a cult, so she should have known better. But now she does.
Since that eliminates nearly every story-dreamer, its best to take small steps in a traditional "pay me for my time until we agree that we can be partners".
Owning 10% of something is still owning 10% of nothing until it's making profit. Profit is a funny word, meaning once you've spent everything in your revenue. I don't hear of many people making money when they take shares in a company like this.