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Anyone Looking for Non-Technical Co-Founder in NYC, SF, or Boston?

8 points by mattgerboth ↗ HN
I am looking to join a technical person or a team to work on a start-up. I am willing to work my ass off including weeknights, weekends, or whatever it takes. I am willing to work 24/7 on this and give up everything else in my life to work on this. I have my own ideas, but I am completely open to joining others on their idea.

I am currently in NYC but am willing to move to Boston or SF if it’s the right team or person. I have bunch of savings saved up that I can survive for up to two years without a job.

Here is a little about me:

-I graduated from one of the top undergraduate business schools in America (currently ranked number two on Business Week’s top undergraduate business school ranking list)

-I have worked at Google and Salesforce. I am 23 years old male.

-I can SELL. I worked at Best Buy for 3 in high school selling. I am highly extroverted and can SELL! I love selling!! I very persistent and do not mind rejections.

-I am really good at people's skills, presenting, networking, and business development. I have high emotional intelligence and am pretty easy to get along with.

-I consider my specialty to be in business development, business strategy, marketing, and project management.

-I am a go-getter, and do not need to be told to do things. I literally can do everything that does not involve coding so coders can focus on the product.

-I am constantly reading and consider myself well read. I have obviously read classics such as the Lean Startup and all of Paul Graham’s essays. I also have read many books in different fields such as: management, psychology, philosophy, and biographies of successful entrepreneurs.

I am looking to join people who are extremely dedicated and are willing work their asses off to make a successful startup. If you are action-oriented, hacker-type, and are looking for a non-technical co-founder that fits the description above then please contact me at matt.gerboth@gmail.com.

Thanks

12 comments

[ 3.9 ms ] story [ 37.1 ms ] thread
notahacker
People might be interested in knowing what you did at Google and Salesforce (especially if it's linked with the sales/marketing which is where an inexperienced non-technical cofounder can add plenty of value to some startups)
unreal37
Reading this makes me stop and think - I would not be willing to "give up everything else in my life" to start a company.

That said, good luck to you and I hope you find something worthwhile to apply your talents to.

ameister14
If you have the savings and time, why not learn to code? You can add a lot more to the early technical parts and pull your own weight throughout the process.

Plus you'll better understand what's reasonable in terms of goals and deadlines, and find it much, much easier to find and attract technical people.

mattgerboth
I am learning to code but to be honest, I just do not like coding. I need to focus on my strengths rather than fix the clinks in my armor.
nanijoe
Wait..so you're willing to do whatever it takes..EXCEPT code? What other "chinks in your armor" are you not willing to do?
xoail
I would say hang out with other hackers at meetups. You just dont wanna join a startup based on their ideas or skills. You wanna make sure its a good fit for you and the team you join. Hang out with people, hack with them at hackathons, meetups etc. Once you find a team/individual that is good fit for beers, build a small product together and ship it without the mess of any partnership/equities/llc.
mattgerboth
Trust me, I have tried. I went to countless meetups and hackathons and its harder to find people than you think it is.
slap_shot
I really do not mean for this to be offensive, but I understand how it can be (and I almost expect it to be interpreted that way) but I feel obligated to tell you this.

Your excuse is pretty weak. You've "tried meeting technical founders and hackathons, but its harder than we think." That's just weak.

You have to realize that you're within a forum of people that are very passionate and good at what they do. I really don't think anybody in the HN community is looking for a non-technical co-founder who is essentially saying they can't convince hackers, in person, at hackathons to bet on you.

If your rational was that you believe in HN users more than just a guy you can meet at a hackathon (not a bad approach, by the way), then you'd have merit. But your explanation basically suggests that you've been shot down hackathons, so now you're here to pick up a co-founder.

I'm not suggesting that finding a co-founder on HN is unheard of, nor that it is a bad idea (I particularly liked Coinbase's attempt merely days before the HN application deadline). But this whole presentation sounds unimpressive.

Lastly, having played point in both the non-technical and a technical founder roles, I'd suggest that you drop "I've tried but its harder than you think" line from your lexicon. Paul Graham has a succinct essay on this, but being a good founder is about being relentlessly resourceful. While you may have tried, and it my be harder than anyone thinks it is, both points are irrelevant. You jut have to do it. And you can't, or don't, you'll just be forgotten about.

I wish you the best of luck.

[dead] nnpodz
Here's some good advice - if you are great at selling, come up with a product, and go sell it to people, get feedback, do the customer development, hire a part time designer to make some nice mockups. You don't need a product to sell - you only need max a powerpoint, or at least a working prototype.

Once you're at the point where someone says 'ok, ill pay you for this product', you'll have some cash, or you'll have a compelling story for a developer.

Imagine instead of posting 'please someone technical join me im a hard worker', your story was 'guys, i just sold <large company> on a product <here> that I'd been working on selling for 4 months, i'll split the contract with a developer who wants to come on board and build a company around this idea with me'.

Much more compelling.

imlou4
Learn to code and explore Europe?

MakersAcademy.com

mhhughes8
If you haven't already, be sure to create a free online profile on CoFoundersLab, http://www.cofounderslab.com/. Search/connect with thousands of entrepreneurs, technical and non-technical looking to join a startup, for someone to join their startup, or open to either. Good luck!
nicholjs
I am a developer in NYC, and I do client projects with two other developers.

I'd be willing to meet for a coffee to talk about any possibilities. Shoot me an email: john@bitfountaincode.com