Looking for a tech co-founder/tech lead

[adlep]

Hi,
We are looking for a tech co-founder/tech lead to help us out develop a web site, that is very much similar to this:

http://www.signazon.com/car-magnets/business-magnetic-signs/pc-repair-magnetic-624.aspx

http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/stu...aprint.com/gallery.aspx?pg=1&xnav=HowToDesign
(click on "Advanced Editor")...

So basically the site will feature a simple to use pics editor that lets users to play with existing templates or create a blank, new design..

The purpose:
Learn more at
www.stickyframes.net

People can go to the site, create whatever they need - like a "For Sale" sign or a Political Sign "Vote For Candidate X" or Sport Team sign, or a personal logo; whatever.
Second step is to print the sign and put it in our "blank" car magnet frame -> "StickyFrame".
So the adapter can be whatever. One day it can be a Political sticker and the next day it can be used to sell a car or a house, or advertise a business, or print a pitcure of a long cat meme and drive it around at the back of your car...

I've been toying with the idea for few years. We have a patent pending and trademark for it. We are working with an experienced manufacturer in Hong Kong to have our "Sticky Frames" manufactured in many various sizes.
The frames will be very cheap.

I have created a thread many moths ago asking for feedback and got totally crushed.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2127185&highlight=adlep
People did not like the first prototype.
So, I've changed my design. Now it does not look any different from regular car magnet.

Pic of the prototypes:

www.computerfix.org/pics/sfs.JPG (crappy iphone photo that shows various sizes. You can stick these adapters to the back/side of your car)

The web site with an easy to use editor will be crucial to the commercial success of the product. If creating/generating signs will be simple and we can sell SF for cheap, we believe it might fly...

I do not want to just outsource the site because I want someone to have a stake in the success of the project. Me and Dustin are not coders but we are willing to learn. However, we'll need to team up with someone experienced in web dev...

So far I had few good leads from http://news.ycombinator.com/news but they did not work out due to a conflict of schedules.

Learn more about what we are trying to do in this short video:
http://stickyframes.posterous.com/pages/about-us (I am the guy on the right - with an accent)

Cliffs:
- Looking for a tech lead to take part in the StickyFrames project.
- We need to develop a pics editor that is similar to the one in Singazone and Vistaprint.
- We are in the process of setting up a manufacturing process for the SF and we can make them cheaply.
- We have decided to go with a tech cofounder route because we want someone committed to the project.
- We are not programmers and lack experience with developing web apps. However we are quite IT savvy and can learn, but we will need a lead/mentor type.

 

[Cogman]

Let me be blunt.

You are not going to easily find a good programmer that will jump at the opportunity to do this. You should be very cautious about anyone that takes this job.

The problem is that most developers look for already established businesses to work, or they will start their own if they want to enter a new market. The type of developer that would say "Oh, a startup.. I'm IN!" is generally one that has been unemployed for a long time or that lacks the ability to actually program.

You NEED a good developer in this position. If you start off this project wrong, it could be a nightmare to fix later.

My suggestion is that you do it yourself and hire people as junior developers or plain developers. If you shoot with fancy titles like "Tech cofounder" you most likely aren't going to find anyone worth finding.

The currency for good development is currency. Developers don't generally look for fancy titles or "exciting fast paced" environments. They want stable jobs with well defined problems and development requirements.

That being said, if you need someone to give advice, feel free to ask questions here. We can certainly do the mentoring part better and cheaper than you could get if you paid for someone to do it. You, however, are going to have to be the one that takes the lead.

 

[Markbnj]

The problem is that most developers look for already established businesses to work, or they will start their own if they want to enter a new market. The type of developer that would say "Oh, a startup.. I'm IN!" is generally one that has been unemployed for a long time or that lacks the ability to actually program.

I think you're off base with this, Cogman. There are a lot of entrepreneurial developers out there, especially young ones. Look at the amount of cottage-industry development going on in the app markets. Here's the reality: as your programming career advances you are going to run into a salary wall. There is only so much money on the table for people who actually write code. You will have basically two choices for getting past that wall if you want to continue making more money. One is to advance into management. The other is to become some sort of self-employed consultant or entrepreneur.

A young person with the right technical skills, few family responsibilities, and a couple of bucks in the bank might very well jump at an entrepreneurial opportunity if he or she likes the idea.

That said, I'll add one other thing, and this is coming from a guy who started a software business with two partners, and took it through two rounds of angel, and two rounds of venture funding: partnering with someone in a business is like a marriage, only worse because you don't even have sex to brighten the prospects (I assume). You might find a person on an Internet forum, but you better get to know them well before jumping into financial bed with them. Typically in this situation the partners will have known each other from work or something along those lines.

 

[Cogman]

I think you're off base with this, Cogman. There are a lot of entrepreneurial developers out there, especially young ones. Look at the amount of cottage-industry development going on in the app markets. Here's the reality: as your programming career advances you are going to run into a salary wall. There is only so much money on the table for people who actually write code. You will have basically two choices for getting past that wall if you want to continue making more money. One is to advance into management. The other is to become some sort of self-employed consultant or entrepreneur.

A young person with the right technical skills, few family responsibilities, and a couple of bucks in the bank might very well jump at an entrepreneurial opportunity if he or she likes the idea.

That said, I'll add one other thing, and this is coming from a guy who started a software business with two partners, and took it through two rounds of angel, and two rounds of venture funding: partnering with someone in a business is like a marriage, only worse because you don't even have sex to brighten the prospects (I assume). You might find a person on an Internet forum, but you better get to know them well before jumping into financial bed with them. Typically in this situation the partners will have known each other from work or something along those lines.

IDK, I just can't see a someone with a solid job looking at a random startup (that they didn't come up with) and saying "Oh boy, sign me up for that!". I can see them starting their own business based off of their own ideas. I can even see them joining a startup because some friend came up with the idea. But I just have a hard time seeing someone join a startup with someone that they really don't know.

It is risky, like you have pointed out. If you do something like this you better really believe in it, or believe in the person that started it.

Of course, that is really just my opinion on the matter .

 

[adlep]

IDK, I just can't see a someone with a solid job looking at a random startup (that they didn't come up with) and saying "Oh boy, sign me up for that!". I can see them starting their own business based off of their own ideas. I can even see them joining a startup because some friend came up with the idea. But I just have a hard time seeing someone join a startup with someone that they really don't know.

It is risky, like you have pointed out. If you do something like this you better really believe in it, or believe in the person that started it.

Of course, that is really just my opinion on the matter .

People do that all the time as a matter of fact. There is an unofficial scene of the co-founders going on right now.
Like I've said - I got two good leads already through ycombinator, but these guys had something else going on that prevented them from jumping in and be 100% committed. The only risk of the tech cofounder would be their time. I will pay for everything else like hosting fees/server/software needed.
Edit: And yes, a tech lead will risk their time, but on the other hand he/she does it because they have a stake in the success of the project they are working on...

 

[Markbnj]

IDK, I just can't see a someone with a solid job looking at a random startup (that they didn't come up with) and saying "Oh boy, sign me up for that!".

As OP noted, it happens all the time. You may just be the more risk-averse type of personality. Entrepreneurship in general has been described as a mental defect: the entrepreneur always underestimates risk and overestimates his or her own ability. If that act of hubris lines up with some luck and market conditions the entrepreneur can be proven right and make a lot of money. In extreme cases this results in Larry Ellison.

 

[Cogman]

As OP noted, it happens all the time. You may just be the more risk-averse type of personality. Entrepreneurship in general has been described as a mental defect: the entrepreneur always underestimates risk and overestimates his or her own ability. If that act of hubris lines up with some luck and market conditions the entrepreneur can be proven right and make a lot of money. In extreme cases this results in Larry Ellison.

Yep, this is definitely true of me (That I take the safe bet over the risky bet). I'm probably just not relating well.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I could see doing it more to keep work interesting than from the expectation of getting rich quick. Similar to how people go into game development despite the brutal hours and low pay. If I had to leave my job now for some reason I could see spending a year trying something like the OP's startup rather than moving to an established company.

I took the join-a-friend's-startup route and it's working out pretty well even if I'm only getting rich slowly

 

[adlep]

I could see doing it more to keep work interesting than from the expectation of getting rich quick. Similar to how people go into game development despite the brutal hours and low pay. If I had to leave my job now for some reason I could see spending a year trying something like the OP's startup rather than moving to an established company.

I took the join-a-friend's-startup route and it's working out pretty well even if I'm only getting rich slowly

Hey, as long as you are getting rich - that's all it matters. Must be quite satisfying to have an extra income coming in addition to the main job.

 

[tatteredpotato]

As OP noted, it happens all the time. You may just be the more risk-averse type of personality. Entrepreneurship in general has been described as a mental defect: the entrepreneur always underestimates risk and overestimates his or her own ability. If that act of hubris lines up with some luck and market conditions the entrepreneur can be proven right and make a lot of money. In extreme cases this results in Larry Ellison.

I'm going to be graduating with a M.S. in ECE this December, and I think I would actually prefer to start working for a startup. Getting a job for a large, well established company will provide good job security, but you won't have the same experience. With a startup you get a chance to get you're hands dirty with lots of different aspects of the product.

 

[sourceninja]

Finally getting this ( http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2127185&highlight=adlep+bumper+sticker ) off the ground eh?

 

[adlep]

Finally getting this ( http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2127185&highlight=adlep+bumper+sticker ) off the ground eh?

The physical part of it...yes....
But the web service/social networking aspect of StickyFrames is very important as well..

Edit: PMs replied to. Thx

 

[mosco]

Yep, this is definitely true of me (That I take the safe bet over the risky bet). I'm probably just not relating well.

Do you work in a big tech market (SF,Seattle, Boston, etc)? There are a lot of people that live jumping from startup to startup. As long as you have talent, most of the time you get to work in a great environment.

 

[adlep]

Do you work in a big tech market (SF,Seattle, Boston, etc)? There are a lot of people that live jumping from startup to startup. As long as you have talent, most of the time you get to work in a great environment.

Yeah, that is a newish trend - since the Ycombinator started getting great results with their lean startup idea.