I don't get why all these MBAs are so set on starting a website business when they refuse to learn about websites. This is like MBAs wanting to start a restaurant and trying to find a chef. The whole idea is a little pointless. You might find one, but really your role is to ENABLE a good chef/coder and help them succeed. It's stupid to come up with a restaurant name and theme and then go find a chef - you can do that, but you're likely going to fail since you don't know anything. Instead, find a great chef/coder, find what they want to do, help them develop and package their idea and then do all the shit work that they don't want to deal with (get money, buy stuff, hire people, do powerpoint). THAT'S your role.
I agree with you to a degree. I was a biz side guy when I first launched a start-up 2 years ago. What helped me find a tech co-founder was running the project as far as I could without one. Revenue, seed round, incubator, etc.
Something that I don't think biz side guys understand is that the idea isn't unique or special, and it will likely fail, as mine did. However, both sides need each other...and as I've read a hundred times on HN - there isn't a lot of love floating around for the business side / MBAs.
I don't find tech guys to be very open minded when approached with ideas. On the flip side, I think biz guys need to come to the table with A LOT more than an idea.
I recently got an email from a guy thinking about posting on HN looking for a Tech Co-Founder. In his speech, he said there "is a huge and underserved market waiting for their product." I asked him - why does your site only have 7 twitter followers, and no facebook page? That is a very commonplace conversation.
My solution for business side guys is full proof. Don't post on hacker news. Don't ask random nerds. Quit your job. Learn to code. Screw the snobby tech co-founders...be your own tech co-founder. Startups aren't something that you do on the side...it's your life.
This is a great analogy, and the situation is a lot more clear when phrased this way. Do you mind if I borrow this? I have this "technical cofounder" conversation far more often than I should
