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Ask HN: How to find a woman technical co-founder?

11 points by AltonWells ↗ HN
My partner is brilliant woman who’s taken an MVP pretty far. She’s looking for a woman co-founder because it’s a platform primarily targeted a women and wants the synergy/empathy that comes with that. She tried co-founder matching but to little success, does anyone have any ideas???

29 comments

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giantg2
Sounds a little sexist, maybe with good intentions. Maybe it's time to look for the best qualified candidate regardless of sex?

Edit: Why downvote? Isn't this the same logic touted by equality organizations?

AltonWells
That’s a fair question. If she can find a male who is interested in building a woman’s wellness platform for women then I know she would go for it. However, there are some gender bias barriers she’s faced when sharing her idea and it doesn’t always “click” with men.
giantg2
That makes sense. I would hope that most people who it doesn't click with just wouldn't apply.

Maybe post on forums or reddit subs that are pertainate to women's wellness. That's the niche - not the technology side. So you should be able to find individuals on those pages who also have the technical skills. It's more like finding a needle in a haystack looking in the technology forums for any resources who are passionate about a non-technology specific niche.

egfx
I’d like to hear the idea. What’s the overview?
AltonWells
But personalized meal kits and fitness routines adjusted to fit your life, weekly.
egfx
O’rly? Message me. My emails address is in my profile.
egfx
Hey @AntonWells is there any reason you’re not emailing me? I think there could be a genuine mutual interest here!
jimmyvalmer
The "best qualified candidate" is not generally an objective measure -- if you can be more productive with someone your own gender and race, then that's all to the good, the largely American taboo of racial and gender sorting notwithstanding.
giantg2
Not just taboo, but laws against discrimination.
CheezeIt
Not when searching for a business partner.
giantg2
Doesn't that depend on what stage you're in and how you are bringing them in? Like I'd you already have a company set up and you are going to hire them as an employee without sufficient interest, then it does apply. If you're not giving them sufficient interest in the company (10%?), or it hasn't been formed yet, then I think it doesn't.
CheezeIt
There are also minimum employee sizes before racial discrimination law kicks in, I think 15, or 5 if you’re in California, but that is from rapid googling.
FranksTV
There are a million reasons why women prefer to work with women.

Also with women being systematically excluded from many opportunities in tech, this is hardly going to deprive some man of an opportunity.

giantg2
"Also with women being systematically excluded from many opportunities in tech"

Do you have some sources for this?

"There are a million reasons why women prefer to work with women."

And the same is true for men wanting to work with men.

"this is hardly going to deprive some man of an opportunity."

If one is actually excluding men, then this by definition deprives them of that specific opportunity.

softwaredoug
Is there someone from the customer base that really believes in the startups mission she could hire? Someone that's really technical?
AltonWells
It’s consumer facing so highly unlikely :/
softwaredoug
Ah what about investors? Are there current investors/plans to approach investors? They can be a great resource with their own extensive networks.
AltonWells
Yeah that’s the next step is to start working investor networks!
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ipaddr
What is the story of pretty far? Did she find market fit and needs to scale? What kind of challenges is she facing?
AltonWells
She’s found a bit of traction. Ads convert to customers but the CAC is high and not “uniquely defensible”. It’s low/code no/code website but the idea is there and she’s proven the marketability of it
danhackerino
Sounds great.

I'm currently also seeking a technical co-founder for my start-up, I'm looking exclusively for white men.

AltonWells
Sounds like you don’t understand gender bias
[dead] danhackerino
"I'm looking for a co-founder, MUST be female, not willing to consider males. Please avoid gender bias on my thread, though - thanks".

You are sexist, dress it up however you want to.

jimmyvalmer
I assert the same want ad for sex partners. Sexism gets a bad rap.
danhackerino
There are reasons why (legally) you're not allowed to discriminate in the workplace based on gender, but are allowed to in selecting a partner. They're not the same, even a bit. If anything it's just a (slightly) witty analogy. You already know that.

If people want to play the 'free to discriminate against particular group identities' - I'm game. Let's see how that one plays out.

jimmyvalmer
I didn't want to say it at first, for fear of invoking dang, but I am talking about the workplace. I was referring to prostitution, which is as valid a professional environment as any.