Finding Partners

First thing I received this morning was a message on Facebook about a job posting for a developer. This person responded with a very curt "$10/Hr for a web developer: People cut grass for $10/Hr". I was very surprised by this response to say the least. This person had been offended by our offer and wanted to let me know it.

The message this morning got me thinking about how lucky I am to have found two partners already in building Wombitt. Finding people to help you build out the concept is instrumental in reaching your goals. The question is where do you meet these partners. Ideally you will meet them through normal social circles. The next best place to meet potential partners would be at networking events like Facebook Camp, or DemoCamp. Here you will meet people interested in new technology, who perhaps will even be entrepreneurial. Given my experience this morning I should probably say that job boards are last resort, but we found one of our partners through a job board and he has worked out fantastically, so I suppose it is hit and miss.

The most important thing you can do to bring partners on board is to explain your concept in easy to understand terms, creating a description that highlights the benefits more than the features. For example,"Wombitt is an easy to use search engine that makes word of mouth reviews between friends instantly accessible online. The benefits of which will save the user money and time in making their own purchases". This little skill has been the hardest part of pitching for me because my natural inclination is to veer to the abstract rather than concrete.

Finding partners is an essential part of starting up because it helps vette your ideas through the filter of other people's opinions. In starting with bodbook almost a year back, the concept has changed so considerably because I was constantly trying to recruit additional help. If I had tried to go it alone we wouldn't have arrived at the most important insights that define where we are going and the problem we are solving. Good help is hard to find, but is immeasurably valuable when you do.