HN Explorer

Ask HN: How do you meet founders if you haven't built anything cool?

16 points by free2rhyme214 ↗ HN
Here is Sam's recommendation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scPm4VMklBI&list=FLek5ilbSRojwKI_I80lVH6g&index=5

How do you do that if you haven't built anything cool? I honestly just want to make more friends. I can code a little in Swift/Objective C.

9 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 24.9 ms ] thread
edoceo
Metro areas will have meetups for entrepreneur/startup folks, eg Seattle has 200+! Find some you like and go, hand out cards. Try a few and refine, attend each a few times, to get a good evaluation of the group. Friend up on LI/Twitter,etc, build network, find possible founders, lather, rinse, repeat
free2rhyme214
I appreciate your feedback. My issue with this approach is that you come across as everyone else who's just trying to "network" as Sam mentioned in the youtube link I provided.

I think a better approach is to learn how to code and build something to show others. That way you come across as someone who genuinely wants to be a friend.

I found tutorials to learn C# for free here if it helps others - https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/topics/scripting

jamesmishra
There are a few ways.

1. Join a large company that recruits extraordinary talent, but has many startup founder alumni (e.g. Google, Facebook, Uber).

2. Join a startup, work for a few years. After an exit, start a company with your colleagues.

3. Go to school and meet your cofounders there.

[deleted]
(comment deleted)
free2rhyme214
1. Moving to Google is an option. 2. Already did. 3. Not an option ATM, thank you tho!
ihatimk
One of the things you could try is planning a lunch or dinner or trek or some other activity that is enjoyable and sort-of informal-ish. Invite 1-2 of your founder friends and ask them to bring 1-2 of their friends along. Make sure the group doesn't become so large that members subdivide into subgroups. This way not only you, but your other founder friends can expand their network. And, if on the off chance that someone doesn't get along well with someone else, they still have someone in the group to enjoy the fun activity with.
wazanator
Go to meetups, conferences, etc and just mingle and socialize. Just talk to people and get to know them. There's a monthly lunch and learn near me for infosec and the number of people you meet and network with in a semi formal setting is great. People show up who aren't even part of the industry but want to learn. Has definitely lead me to expanding my network of contacts.
free2rhyme214
I'm not a fan of huge groups but thank you for the suggestion. I also recommend watching Sam's response in the details above about Meetup's.