How do we hunt co-founders for our startup?

Published in

The Startup

4 min readNov 20, 2017

Founders “Tinder” apps

Yes, this has to make sense. These online matching platforms are created for one reason — MATCH like-minded entrepreneurs together! Most of these apps are free anyway. Some of these social networking apps are Founder2be, FounderDating, Talnts Inc, Hachi Labs, nextSociety Inc & CoFoundersLab. Their sole purpose of existence is to help entrepreneurs find co-founders. But ironically, these can be the worst place to look for a co-founder. They suffer from the same drawback — What you may find is that most people on these platforms are already wedded to their own ideas and looking for others to join, just like you!

Your existing network

People you already knew or worked with are more likely to trust you as compared to strangers. For the obvious reason that you already know each other’s style and have at least some chemistry. That’s why you see so many former colleagues co-found companies together. If you’ve lost contact with some talented former peers, perhaps now is the best time to hunt them down on social media.

Startup forums and events

Sell & hustle your idea with everyone you know & ask if they know anybody who’d be interested in joining you. Don’t assume people would know how to help without you popping the question.

Make as many friends as possible in your local startup scene. These people are more likely to know others who have an entrepreneurial bent. If you’re a first-time entrepreneur, it helps to have advisers who are well respected and connected in your startup community. By my 2nd month in my ideation stage, friends who know me have already known that I am building my own startup.

Job portals

Go check out at Peatix, Eventbrite & meetup.com for networking/startup/entrepreneurship events. You should be able at least find one related event every week. There are also a lot of Startup incubator & accelerator events. In addition, there are numerous online forums on Quora, Facebook & LinkedIn related to entrepreneurship.

The benefit of going to these events & forums is that you easily meet many people who are interested in starting a business. The downside is that it’s gonna be very competitive cos everyone is there probably for the same reason — Hunt! There are lots of ideas competing for attention at these events. Unless you already a veteran & super-pro, it’s difficult for anyone to stand out & be heard.

Schools

Job portals are the most underrated place to find co-founders. While most people looking at job boards are looking for a real salary, it is equally true that most startups do not post co-founder “jobs” at these places. That’s why when you do, you easily stand out. It did work out well for me.

Write a job post what you’re looking for in a co-founder, including a description of your company, job responsibilities, company culture & qualifications. Consider posting it to popular job boards that would let you (some don’t unless it’s a salary-paying job). So far Gumtree works best for me, considering its ROI & conversion.

Many polytechnics & universities now have entrepreneurial associated programs. If you’re looking for a technical co-founder, it will definitely be useful to contact the school program director.

Like a marriage, for the start, take anyone on board slowly, with a proper trial period and vesting. Having the right co-founders can make or break your startup. And, if the relationship fails, let it fail fast & move forward. Keep searching, don’t settle easily.

Lastly, there is no million dollar idea, only million dollar execution. The team is more important than its idea. However, it’s the leader that leads the entire team that matters most.

“Both feet in or nothing”

“Life is short, follow your heart”

Yours Truly,

Jose, Cuzzey

Pet-Preneur / Hustler / Speaker / Founder

Singapore

http://www.asianentrepreneur.org/jose-he-cuzzey/ — The Asian Entrepreneur, Jose He

https://www.entrepworld.com/articles/c/0/i/16768484/jose-he-journey-salesman-entrepreneur — Entrepworld