To everyone pointing out sites for networking with potential co-founders: I find them disappointing. They're great places to chat with interesting folks, but if you're like me you've been to them for months without actually getting to first base with anyone.
First base isn't exchanging bodily fluids. It's hacking together on a project. Why's it so hard to find people to actually hack with for an evening? We all know the hacking is important, and yet I don't see anybody out there networking with hacking in mind. I'm starting to suspect 'networking' is the wrong word for what we're trying to do. Perhaps we need to focus deeply on a few leads rather than a bunch of shallow ones.
Have you found a co-founder by networking? Tell me how wrong I am.
Agree here. Never see anyone find a co-founder by networking. And, probably not suggest it as well since it takes time to know if someone is a GREAT cofounder.
In Australia, we had 'Bootup Camp' http://www.bootupcamp.com/.
In 2 weeks, they went from idea to auctioning the business. In this event, i have seen people that eventually become friends and continue to build their next startup.
Yes, shdh used to be awesome! But it seems every iteration diverges further from what I'd like to get out of it. More people attending, more aimless talking and partying, less hacking. And the hackers are all going it alone, being anti-social.
You need to go there and hack. But it needs to be with someone else.
Yeah, that's why you should come to the casual hacking sessions at the Hacker Dojo. There's less partying here because the hack sessions recur every week. I've done a bit of pairing with random people that show up and want to hack.
The description PG gives of 'the ideal cofounder' tends to be someone who you've known for a long time, or have a fairly 'deep' history with - you're good friends or colleagues who get on really well or something like that.
If you go by that definition, you simply cannot 'go out and find' someone because it would then take years to reach that level of comradeship.
But that doesn't mean everyone who didn't have a technically inclined college experience and doesn't have a hacking job should give up on the whole concept of cofounders.
No - there are plenty of places to meet that sort of friend. The key point is not meeting people at college or at a job, but rather to know someone very well in order to be prepared to go through thick and thin with them.
First base isn't exchanging bodily fluids. It's hacking together on a project. Why's it so hard to find people to actually hack with for an evening? We all know the hacking is important, and yet I don't see anybody out there networking with hacking in mind. I'm starting to suspect 'networking' is the wrong word for what we're trying to do. Perhaps we need to focus deeply on a few leads rather than a bunch of shallow ones.
Have you found a co-founder by networking? Tell me how wrong I am.