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 3: Build a prototype and more, not just a B-plan.
Time Needed: 1-3 months
Suppose you’ve took Step 1 and Step 2 for the time required, you probably have formed one or several business “ideas”. But that’s not enough for you to find a good tech co-founder.
The reason why at early stage tech co-founder worth much more than non tech co-founder is because, generally speaking, that “execution power” of a team can only be shown by building a working product.
With all the ideas in your mind, you have nothing to demonstrate your execution power. While building a prototype is necessary to show that you have the ability to communicate and work with technical people, it is far from enough.
Like some non tech co-founder who followed the path of “learn how to code and build a prototype”, I wasn’t sure that’s what I should be doing. People told me that I should be refining the b-plan because coding isn’t my competence.
Looking back, I think it’s necessary because it tells people how you deal with your incompetence.
These were what I did:
– applied in YC 2013 Winter batch, no chance of being interviewed
– built an app using free trial plan at apps-builder within a week, used drupal for content management
– submitted the app at Apple Store for twice, rejected
– applied for two seed funds in China with b-plan, no feedback heard
It doesn’t matter (at this point) that none of these came to a success. I deserve the failure because basically, they should reject me since I’m a one-man band with no technical background.
But when I tell people about these, it shows that I solve problems, I take actions, I try to find solutions, and I don’t give up easily.
That’s what you want to show to your potential tech co-founder.
JC 