Where can I find a partner for my business?

February 26, 2006 2:35 PM

Where can I find a partner to help me build a business based on a Web service? I'm 18, I'm not going to be in college for at least a year, and I can fund the venture for 6+ months out-of-pocket. But the programming is far too much work for just one person.

The business is the kind that requires a few servers, some programming, and some marketing--it doesn't require much money to bootstrap.

I've been working very hard on it since the end of November, but if I continued working alone, it'd take until mid-July or later until I even had a working prototype. I firmly believe in the idea, but I just don't see myself being able to do all of the work alone. (Though I have the technical skills, it's just too much work.)

None of my friends are tech people, and nobody at my high school does much programming. I've also searched for 2 months through acquaintances, to no avail.

So, how can I find other people to help me who are of a similar age and whom I live near? Does anyone have any experience starting a business like this with a partner who wasn't already a friend? Should I look for an employee rather than a partner (i.e., pay a salary instead of share a stake in the business)? Should I cast a wide net and look to team up with somebody who lives somewhere else in the U.S. ? (I'm in Chicago.) Has anyone had experience starting a Web-based business with someone whom they haven't even met in person?

Footnote: I realize the whole teen-starts-Web-business thing is a cliché, and this thing could totally crash and burn. I'm more interested in advice relating to my search for a partner--but don't worry, I have no irrational illusions that this business will bring incredible success. I only know that it's a fun project and a good learning experience.

Footnote 2: I applied to Paul Graham's Y Combinator Summer Founders' Program, but they turned me down (and my having no partner was likely a big part of their reason).

posted by jbb7 to Work & Money (9 answers total)

This might not be possible for you for any number of reasons but I'd encourage you to start a CS program at a university. Even going part time you'll meet young, talented people who will be willing to do adventurous things.
posted by joegester at 2:40 PM on February 26, 2006

Interesting question. Even if it does crash and burn, it still sounds like a worthwhile endeavour.

No specific solutions, just some random thoughts.

I still get approached by two or three people a year who have "a great web business idea that just needs someone to build it for free". Problem is, ideas are cheap and I'd rather work on something that inspires me, not some other guy. I think convincing a programmer to work on your project, for free, is going to be tricky. OTOH you probably don't want to pay consultant rates.

Someone else might tell you to write a business plan or something, but I'm a programmer so I'm going to say write a functional specification. Get everything that's in your head down on paper, in excrutiating detail. Be really, really anal - specify login, logout, change password, every function of the site. Estimate how long each function is going to take to build.

Now go through and rip out everything that isn't absolutely necessary for version 1.0. Be heartless. What you have left is the minimal core - you may find that you can build that alone, and worry about version 2.0 or 3.0 once the money starts coming in.
posted by Leon at 3:12 PM on February 26, 2006

Rent a coder might work for you.
posted by procrastination at 3:42 PM on February 26, 2006

For starters, I recommend sharing your idea. "What??" you may ask, "share my precious idea so that someone else can beat me to it?" All I can say is that if your idea really is so simple, then someone else is going to come up with it sooner or later anyway. Even if you don't share your idea now, it will be trivial for someone to copy it once your site launches. If you share your idea, you can get other people interested in it and excited, and they will want to help you along. I think it's good that you realize that this is highly unlikely to make a sucuessful business, but doing this as a "fun project and a good learning experience" is all the more reason to tell us what you're looking to make. If it sounds exciting, people will want to get involved.

Secondly, what about launching your idea as an open source project? Work on documenting what you have and building a really stable base, and then create a project on SourceForge. Getting someone to sign on to a brand new business with no funding is extremely difficult (especially a busness run by an 18 year old), but getting some programmers to volunteer some time on a weekend to help out with a web application is much easier.

All that being said, this is an askMiFi answer, not legal advice. By sharing your idea, you run the risk that someone else may get there first. Then again, you have that risk right now; someone else could come up with your idea on their own. Since you are looking at this the right way, as a fun project and a learning experience, this really shouldn't bother you, but if you simply must keep your idea a secret, then all the best of luck.

Also, if you tell us what it is you're trying to make, we can offer a lot more advice, both technical and logistical, that's more specific to your problem domain.
posted by zachlipton at 3:56 PM on February 26, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for all of the advice so far. I have thought a lot about whether to share the idea. I'm not withholding it out of fear that someone'll copy it; I'm more afraid that releasing the concept without a working prototype will scream "vaporware." (I've also read this ideas essay, which mentions some of the same points that you, zachlipton, brought up.)

I was originally planning to release it as open-source, but it requires a central server and a lot of processing power. I know that makes it sound hokey and pseudocomplicated, but those are big considerations. :) (Also, I want to at least try to make this a business--if it fails, I'll release it under an open-source license.)
posted by jbb7 at 4:09 PM on February 26, 2006

Keeping your idea secret isn't going to do you any good as far as finding someone interested in working on it. I don't know why you're worried about people calling it vaporware, it is vaporware until you get it implemented.

Now, when you say you have money to invest, what exactly do you mean? How much money do you have? If it's like $20- $30k you might have a shot at attracting someone.

If you don't have that kind of money, the best way would be to network. Talk to your friends about the idea and see if any of them would be interested in implementing it with you.
posted by delmoi at 5:19 PM on February 26, 2006

I agree with delmoi and Leon, but I think you said in the question that you've basically exhausted the networking possiblities. So how about emailing some people in the industry who might be able to give you better advice or even put you in touch with someone appropriate? I'm thinking of people like Michael Arrington.
posted by matthewr at 5:38 PM on February 26, 2006

Response by poster: I have $20k, and I'm more than eager to reveal the idea to potential partners. What I wouldn't want to do is to post the idea on the Internet and say, "Hey, who wants to help?" I'd much rather find potential partners and pitch the idea directly to them. Perhaps it'll end up that I have no choice but to spread the idea and look for partners that way, but I'd at least like to begin by taking the latter approach.

With that in mind, has anyone faced a situation like this? How did you find a business partner? And do you have any tips on how to make the relationship work well?
posted by jbb7 at 5:40 PM on February 26, 2006

Here is a similar question: I have gaps.
posted by Chuckles at 7:31 PM on February 26, 2006