I think you should just find some people who are excited by what you're doing, start working with them on a trial basis without any formality, and just see how it works. You'll probably end up cycling through a bunch of people before finding anybody of co-founder quality.
You'll meet a lot of people who are really excited to be involved in a startup, and then a month later learn that they don't have it, or that there are fundamental differences in the way you guys do things. It's super hard to find "co-founders" which are totally a type of person.
My two first co-founders were very experienced. I picked this up from them.
Find out what they do and if you even like them, etc. After the trial period, negotiate based on their value, quality (experience, exceptional skills) etc. and risk they're taking (time spent) with emphasis on output (value). MAKE IT VERY CLEAR from the outset that the work you're doing together is to see how things go. If it doesn't work out, you go your separate ways. People who have done this before will appreciate this method and those are the people you want as a cofounder! You can set the trial period for 1 to 3 months.
A brand purchases a charitable project by committing to its funding target.
Users connect their Runkeeper account (fitbit/jawbone up/etc.), select a project to run for, and then for every mile they run, they'll accrue a micro-donation towards that project (provided by the brand sponsor) until the project is fully funded.
It's Charity Miles with measurable initiatives, which I think is just a better model because when a user runs and shares that activity to FB, Watsi would get an impression in the Newsfeed showcasing the project that the user is currently running for. This advertises the actual work that they're doing rather than just the organization. I also think it's more interesting to share stories with a measurable impact associated with my milage. Stories are dynamic; they're constantly changing as projects get funded rather than the repetitive data of my milage as a stand alone update.
It solves a problem for Nonprofits. Advertising is expensive, and NPO's receive criticism for aggressive ad spend, which they need to do to keep the donations rolling in so that they can continue their work. See Dan Pallotta's TED talk. The reliable source of funding is a nice plus too.
Brands are presented with a more interesting avenue for cause marketing than what is currently available. With Cause Marketing, the typical trigger for donation is Likes, RT's, and purchase triggered donations. However, with a system like this, the brand is engaging and getting an impression in a lifestyle context where the trigger is "go work out." They're basically saying that "if you invest in you, then we'll invest in you AND the world." They're also getting what is potentially a timeline of initiatives through the projects that they've funded, which tells the (story) of their impact. I think this is a really powerful proposition to brands. It hits on everything Umair Haque talks about Re: the requisites of "meaningful brands", which I find super interesting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zCGoKVN4Cc
The take away here is that it's worth exploring. For me, it's something that I want to complete, but am not necessarily interested in ownership. These systems, which provide much needed support for nonprofits should exist, and so I'm willing to contribute to creating this. If you want to run with it, awesome! I'll help you get brands on board, and I'll help you with the design.
I like the idea and would like to work on it (I have very, very limited experience with Rails but learn quickly), but definitely not looking to run it.
Made (app.groundbreakr.com) for Watsi over a weekend to demo the concept. It's not usable, but I'm open to completing it.
It uses a JSON feed from Watsi to display projects, but would need a deeper relationship with them for this model to actually work. Have a relationship for current project.
Have been running some experiments in the Quantified Self/social fitness space. Am looking to sync up with some founder ready devs.
Existing code/working app/traction, but we'll consider it a new project; I'd like to meet some really great Rails and frontend peeps to startup with. Open to joining an existing team as well.
I've got lots of excited friends who code Rails, but aren't the type of people I would create a company with. I'm all in.
If you're interested, let me know. would love to chat!
You'll meet a lot of people who are really excited to be involved in a startup, and then a month later learn that they don't have it, or that there are fundamental differences in the way you guys do things. It's super hard to find "co-founders" which are totally a type of person.
My two first co-founders were very experienced. I picked this up from them.
Find out what they do and if you even like them, etc. After the trial period, negotiate based on their value, quality (experience, exceptional skills) etc. and risk they're taking (time spent) with emphasis on output (value). MAKE IT VERY CLEAR from the outset that the work you're doing together is to see how things go. If it doesn't work out, you go your separate ways. People who have done this before will appreciate this method and those are the people you want as a cofounder! You can set the trial period for 1 to 3 months.