Where To Find Ambitious Business Partners? 50
LostInTranslation asks: "If I were an MBA looking to make a fantastic new dotcom company, I would look around places like /. to try and net some technical wizards to do my bidding. Sites like this collect that kind of tech genius. But the problem is that I already am a technical wizard, and what I need is someone who is driven to sell wizardry. Where does one find that kind of person? Is there some kind of newsgroup they frequent? I've done a few searches, but nothing of value came up. How does a geek find a suit that wants to be exploited?"
"I should clarify: I've run at least two quasi-successful companies in the past ten years, bootstrapping and innovating along. I don't want to run my own business anymore. It's tiring, it takes me away from the front lines, and I don't have the right personality for it. I am looking for a business partner who can turn my good ideas into success stories. I've got angel investors waiting for something to spend on, I've got a massive number of satellite resources to make any idea shine, but I'm missing someone with that je ne sais quoi ... that chutzpah, that integrity in the face of adversity. And I'm not gambling anyone's money on my ideas when I'm fully aware I don't want to run the show.
Someone out there in Slash-land must know where these people collect. They all seem too buzzword-aware to not be on the web somewhere. So give it up: where are they hiding?"
Did you check (Score:3, Funny)
So.... (Score:2, Offtopic)
Please stop the gratuitous links (Score:1)
Re:Please stop the gratuitous links (Score:2)
Politicians (Score:2)
no magic place.. (Score:2)
the problem with some genius level stuff is thought that there's no money in it
oh crap.. (Score:2)
misunderstood slightly..
(burn karma burn)
find some recently unemployed yet highly motivated bloke, who gets the "idea", or someone who ran a company that went bust during the
Under rocks (Score:2)
random e-mail (Score:1)
Slashdot Ambitious? (Score:1)
Pissing into the wind since 1982!
Talk About it (Score:3, Informative)
The more you talk, the more likely someone will be willing to listen. If it is something you are passionate about, it will strike a chord with someone else. And, if no one picks up on your idea, you have to face one of two possiblities: You have a good idea, and no one realized it. Or you have a crappy idea, and it should just die.
Either way, you have to get people excited to get them to invest their talents and money.
Good Luck!
Here's a suggestion (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Here's a suggestion (Score:2)
If it weren't for gravity, I could fly. (Score:5, Informative)
So lemme get this straight...
You're excited about what's possible if you could find the right people?
You are describing nothing special, unique or unusual. You have money, experience and ideas... and you want very talented people to help you execute those ideas.
Join. The. Crowd.
And since you know that ideas are fucking worthless [google.com], here's some links to help you execute, IE, find some talent....
Search google for headhunters [google.com]
Guru [guru.com]
Elance [elance.com]
Idea: Purchase ads in various publications likely to be read by people you want.
Good luck. I hope you can find who you're looking for. (and by that I mean, "It's hard to find good help." [google.com]
Re:If it weren't for gravity, I could fly. (Score:2)
Whoa - nice googlewhack!
I think they're working... (Score:2)
a) working
or
b) playing (as a result of their hard work)
You won't find them on the web. Try social networking or developing the skills that you seem to lack. The only apparent limit to your future successes appears to be your own self-imposed limitations.
Good luck!
Re:I think they're working... (Score:1)
Even more to the point... You don't find and/or exploit 'MBA' types. They come find you and exploit you. That is their nature - they have the drive, the ability to control people, and the willingness to take risk and stay on the ball. If you want to focus on your technical and operational interests, that is fine, but you will play second fiddle to those that assume command. Likewise, there is nothing unethical about said people who maintain control. That is just human nature's way of creating
Mommy, where do MBAs come from? (Score:4, Informative)
Or if you prefer slightly aged MBA, perhaps your local headhunter (the one who was always trying to sell you extra ALGOL programmers and VAX technicians) knows of an MBA who has recently dropped off the corporate radar due to cutbacks or outsourcing. Obviously said executive would be in no position to hire normal headhunter fare without a company, but would likely welcome with open arms the full hit-it-big package complete with techwizardry, angel investors and solid gold ideas.
-CyberVenom
Get them while they're young (Score:1)
See if there aren't some classes where the students have to give presentations, and take your lunch hour every other day to sit in the back with a sandwich and listen. One day, one of them will get up and
I am willing to help (Score:1)
Re:I am willing to help (Score:1)
Sites like this collect that kind of tech genius. (Score:4)
WTF are you smoking?
To re-interpret without permission from the immortal Hartman of Full Metal Jacket:
Holy dog shit. Slashdot? Only trolls and posers come from Slashdot, Private CowboyNeal. And you don't look much like a troll to me so that kinda narrows it down. Do you use Windows?
I know exactly where you're coming from... (Score:3, Informative)
Your best bet is to connect with local business development groups (in Pittsburgh, it was the Pittsburgh Technology Council [pghtech.org]) and groups like SCORE [score.org]. Look particularly at networking opportunities like lunches, and be up front about what you're looking for and cautious about committing to any one person. You'll eventually meet people who will be pretty good fits. You'll want to find not an MBA, but somebody with substantial experience who might or might not have an MBA but whose skills are strong exactly where yours are weak. Also, do not discount the candidate's networking skills - a CEO who is in tight with local VCs can make lots of business opportunities appear even if you don't want VC. But don't neglect to check references, they'll tell you a lot about what you can expect in the future.
I could go on about the cultural conflicts with your new CEO that you'll encounter once you've started down that road, but those could fill a book or three and might get me sued.
Check Out MBA programs (Score:2)
That said, if you're actually trying to start a bu
article +5 Funny (Score:5, Interesting)
ROFL
MOD PARENT UP! (Score:2)
Tech geniuses? (Score:3, Funny)
HahahahahahA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!112341324OMFG
What's your business? (Score:2)
Try linkedin.com [linkedin.com].
But IMHO to get any response in a place like slashdot, you first have to come clean about who you are and what your businesses are. (You may have done so, your post has a lot of links, but it's above my attention span).
If you're looking for people with special qualities applicable to your business, you need to be talking about your business and why you believe in it, and the right people will show because it will resonate with them. There is no place where general-purpose talented peop
Managing to get this posted here is a start ;) (Score:3, Informative)
(Though in my case I'd almost certainly be in the wrong country.)
A startup is 1st like Dating then like Politics (Score:4, Interesting)
'I am behind this 100%'
=
'Show me this will work right now or I am gone Monday.'
'I don't see any problems here'
=
'I am too distracted by my next project to concentrate on this one'
Once you have found your Suits you need to start playing the part Bush has been playing the last four years. [I don't like the guy and hope he's gone soon, but he is playing the role well.] You will need to steamroller everybody. Any sign of weakness and they will all bail at once. Only two things kill a startup, Monsterously bad judgement or indecision. Hear that before? You should it's been the theme of the opposing politcal parties. Bad Judgement has been sticking on Bush because it's true. The indecision ploy hasn't been working because Kerry isn't confused. Carter was a prime example and to a lesser extent Gore. Nixon was a good example of the Bad Judgement side.
You will need to start living the Prima Donna lifestyle. This is Human nature, you must act like a Midevel Japanese Warlord at all times. The rest I am keeping quiet. Good Luck.
Re:A startup is 1st like Dating then like Politics (Score:4, Interesting)
Go to a fashionable bar, wear a decent outfit (Score:2)
he/she probably isn't the one you're looking for but he/she probably knows someone who knows someone who might be interested...
It's called networking and all the MBAs are doing it these days... apparently it's a big hit in the business crowd. They say it's better than playing online games ho
Try foreigners. (Score:2)
Let's look at it from my perspective. Would I work with you normally (eg. if I was American)?
The answer is probably not. I have my own entrepreneurial ambitions and most likely would be in your position looking for people. However as an entrepreneur, business considerations require me to have a U.S. presence.
That's where you come in. Arrange a visa. Maybe we can work something out. (Not me personally, but you get the idea).
Places to go for talent (Score:2)
Excellent technical managers are rare. (Score:2)
It's a very interesting question. Where are the people who can manage technical companies?
Apparently they are very rare. When an open source programmer named his KDE program "Killustrator", the CEO of Adobe made a fool of himself, and cost Adobe a lot in bad publicity. It was an illustration progam, and the tradition is to begin KDE programs with the letter K.
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is widely considered unstable. For example, see the September 8, 2003 CNET article Can Oracle survive Larry Ellison? [com.com]
networking (Score:3, Insightful)
Email Me (Score:1)
And don't forget the "executive message board" - the golf course.
Anyway, if you happen to see this, email me.
Re:Email Me (Score:1)
ghost@wriREMOVECAPTEXTghtfam.com.
Wife-Swapping Parties. (Score:1)
And have no morals.
Exactly what you are looking for.
-Peter
Ryze (Score:1)
The alternative is that there are plenty of willing "business partners" from Nigeria or Zimbabwe.