I found a tech co-founder. Here is how. (2 of 4)

In this series, I’m going to explain the four steps I took, with specific time frame, that helped me find a tech co-founder. The first post is here.

Step 2: Network every awesome people, not just startup or technical guys.

Time Needed: 6-8 months, doing both online and offline.

After reading and learning for 6-8 months, I figured that I really want to be part of it.

But it’s one thing that you like doing something, it’s another thing that you actually do it well and get paid by it.

I set out verify the later two by networking with people in software development industry and the startup community, both online and offline. I try to find out whether there’s a “fitting position” for me based on my skills and knowledge by interacting with those people.

At first I started by commenting on blogs and follow awesome people on twitter. But this is way too remote. So I start joining  events like coding events and hackerthon to get a taste of what it’s like to be in that industry, what those people are like.

I do not just network to find a tech co-founder. I also network with any nice and competent people I met, anyone who is passionate about their own work. Other than setting up the goal to find a tech co-founder, my goal was more to build a strong network and my networking skills.

I know most people, if they find their tech co-founder through networking activities, actually did network with a purpose. But in my experience, there are two merits to network without a purpose at this stage.

First, networking with a purpose is like online or speed dating. You come with a default goal to find a partner, so are all others there. Because everyone is judging with this goal in mind, you may not be able to appreciate the person you’re interacting in their own light. In that way, you missed a lot of good potential partners in a real business. In fact, you missed the real opportunity to build up your value as a non-tech co-founder. Tech co-founder would need your networking skills and network to bring in different people.

Second, at this stage, you may have your ideas but probably not a prototype. Networking with a purpose is actually narrowing your chance to get introduced to some good tech people, as well as making it longer before you find a tech co-founder. Why? Because as a non-tech co-founder, you have to ensure that you’ve got really good market sense and execution abilities. You have to prove yourself to the tech co-founder. Networking with a purpose means you spent your networking time without getting feedback to your biz ideas.

If you were like me, without any technical background, networking with a purpose is actually undermining your value as a non tech co-founder.