And when you're working on a startup, your co-founder is very much your spouse, both personally and legally. The thought of going to a cafe to look for my future spouse feels rather grim.
I think that a lot of the dialogue about trusting cofounders and having them have been BFFs for life is grand, but not everybody gets that lucky. As far as go forth and hack is concerned, aren't we talking about the same thing, except in one case we're having discussion prior to working together, and the other you eliminate that step and get started.
It's not ideal-sure. But this is the toughest thing 99% of people have ever done. Why not use all available methods for success?
Trust the organizers of the MeetUp to try to come up with a [slightly] better process...
they need to do a dummy project after the matching to see for themselves how well they gel together!
Snarkiness aside, constructive criticism:
Somewhere accessible by train and car would be ideal. Downtown PA has, at best, mediocre freeway access and parking.
Somewhere quieter than a bar or pool hall might be more conducive to conversation.
As much as I'm ashamed to admit it, the "trendy" impression I have of Blue Chalk is a personal turn-off. Besides, I'd want my potential co-founder to be frugal enough to avoid such an establishment pre-funding.
Perhaps something like the Hacker Dojo?
I'm not impressed with online dating sites or the general practice of dating. I think there are inherent problems in spending time with someone for the express purpose of determining if they are long-term mate material. I think it actively encourages deception and game-playing. Both sides will seek to determine if the other is adequate to their needs while simultaneously putting on a facade to try to appear desirable. Many people hide information about themselves that they think might be a deal-killer early on in hopes that it won't be a deal-killer after sufficient attachment has occurred. Yet, America has a 50% divorce rate, so I would say what we are doing isn't working all that well.
I would assume this same paradigm largely applies to co-founder meet-ups. You will both be scoping each other out and both painfully aware of being scoped out and trying to hide anything you think will cause rejection while putting your best foot forward. (Ironically, you may be hiding something about yourself that would make you deemed "perfect" for the job but have no way of knowing that in advance.)
So the question becomes: What would work better? And if you can't answer that, then people will keep doing this (just like they keep dating) because it's basically all they've got.