Hey guys! I'm hoping ya'll might be able to shed some light on an issue I've been having:
I founded a site (mypotluckapp.com) last September, and as a total newbie to the tech startup world (I have a successful background in biz dev & marketing in the entertainment industry,) I first started by meeting with entrepreneurs, investors, developers, etc just asking for advice as to the best approach to getting my idea off the ground.
The number one piece of advice I received was basically that I should "test the market." Most people that I spoke with said that I shouldn't waste hundreds of hours building a product, or spend tons of money hiring somebody to build it, before getting out there to see if there was an actual market for it, if people wanted to use it/thought it was cool/signed up for it, etc etc.
I was told to figure out a business plan, revenue streams, a potential user-base, and that building the site first would be a complete waste of time/money because the idea would probably morph into something completely different through the above-mentioned research.
I've also read countless blog posts/advice columns by big-name investors throughout the tech world that complain that developers spend 1,000 hours building something and have no clue how to market it or how to make money with it, and investors are dumping tens of millions of dollars into dead-ends just simply hoping that Google or Facebook will come along and buy it out.
Anyway, I took that advice, and have spent the past 6 months developing a fully-fleshed business plan including revenue streams, target markets, 5-year growth projections, and competitor analysis. I then created a launch page via kickofflabs.com and started marketing the idea to the general public to gauge interest and to see if people would actually use or care about what I wanted to build. Come to find out, people LOVE it! Lots of great interactions through social media, and good buzz from media. I set a goal of 1,000 signups and I'm sitting at around 926 right now. (remember, this is all without ever writing the first line of code, so there isn't actually a product. These are people that are interested in the product and want it.)
So I've taken all of this information and pitched it to some investors, who seemed genuinely interested. The gist of what they told me was that they see some great potential, they really like me as a founder, and the team I've put together so far, and they really believe that this will be successful. They then asked to see a prototype so that they could make their final decision.
Here's the issue: Developers won't touch this with a 10-foot pole, it seems. My partner and I (he's design/UX, and I'm biz dev/marketing) have been completely brick-walled when trying to find a developer interested in signing on as Co-Founder/CTO. Every candidate I've interviewed has basically told me that they can "command six figures" and are unwilling to work for equity. I even had one guy tell me he'd sign on for a $20K bonus up-front and 30% of the company. WTF? Remember, these are people who actually responded to a job posting OUTLINING the fact that we're a startup pre-investment, and that I was offering equity. They still came to the interview and had the nerve....anyway, I digress.
I completely understand that developers can basically write their own checks these days because they're so in demand, but really? When I look at tech meetup groups, incubators, entrepreneur groups, and other tech startup environments, it seems that the memberships are 99% made up of young developers trying to get funding for their ideas or trying to find help building out a business plan for ideas they've already spent 1,000 hours building. The exact thing I was told NOT to do.
Doesn't that seem a bit backwards? How is it that the whole tech world talks about this issue, but I still find it impossible to get investment without a developer, and I can't get a developer without investment? Also, if I have investment, and can just offer a fat salary and benefits to hire somebody outright, why in the world would I give them a huge chunk of equity? Where's the motivation for me to do that, when they weren't a part of the team that made this a reality? (And the argument that "building it is making it a reality" doesn't fly, because there are 10,000 freelance developers I could hire to just build it. I need someone that can manage a department, ya' know?)
Anyway, I would absolutely love to hear all of your opinions on this topic, and maybe you can help me figure out a way to get a CTO on board? Or you can all just tell me I'm an idiot and should learn to code myself.
I founded a site (mypotluckapp.com) last September, and as a total newbie to the tech startup world (I have a successful background in biz dev & marketing in the entertainment industry,) I first started by meeting with entrepreneurs, investors, developers, etc just asking for advice as to the best approach to getting my idea off the ground.
The number one piece of advice I received was basically that I should "test the market." Most people that I spoke with said that I shouldn't waste hundreds of hours building a product, or spend tons of money hiring somebody to build it, before getting out there to see if there was an actual market for it, if people wanted to use it/thought it was cool/signed up for it, etc etc.
I was told to figure out a business plan, revenue streams, a potential user-base, and that building the site first would be a complete waste of time/money because the idea would probably morph into something completely different through the above-mentioned research.
I've also read countless blog posts/advice columns by big-name investors throughout the tech world that complain that developers spend 1,000 hours building something and have no clue how to market it or how to make money with it, and investors are dumping tens of millions of dollars into dead-ends just simply hoping that Google or Facebook will come along and buy it out.
Anyway, I took that advice, and have spent the past 6 months developing a fully-fleshed business plan including revenue streams, target markets, 5-year growth projections, and competitor analysis. I then created a launch page via kickofflabs.com and started marketing the idea to the general public to gauge interest and to see if people would actually use or care about what I wanted to build. Come to find out, people LOVE it! Lots of great interactions through social media, and good buzz from media. I set a goal of 1,000 signups and I'm sitting at around 926 right now. (remember, this is all without ever writing the first line of code, so there isn't actually a product. These are people that are interested in the product and want it.)
So I've taken all of this information and pitched it to some investors, who seemed genuinely interested. The gist of what they told me was that they see some great potential, they really like me as a founder, and the team I've put together so far, and they really believe that this will be successful. They then asked to see a prototype so that they could make their final decision.
Here's the issue: Developers won't touch this with a 10-foot pole, it seems. My partner and I (he's design/UX, and I'm biz dev/marketing) have been completely brick-walled when trying to find a developer interested in signing on as Co-Founder/CTO. Every candidate I've interviewed has basically told me that they can "command six figures" and are unwilling to work for equity. I even had one guy tell me he'd sign on for a $20K bonus up-front and 30% of the company. WTF? Remember, these are people who actually responded to a job posting OUTLINING the fact that we're a startup pre-investment, and that I was offering equity. They still came to the interview and had the nerve....anyway, I digress.
I completely understand that developers can basically write their own checks these days because they're so in demand, but really? When I look at tech meetup groups, incubators, entrepreneur groups, and other tech startup environments, it seems that the memberships are 99% made up of young developers trying to get funding for their ideas or trying to find help building out a business plan for ideas they've already spent 1,000 hours building. The exact thing I was told NOT to do.
Doesn't that seem a bit backwards? How is it that the whole tech world talks about this issue, but I still find it impossible to get investment without a developer, and I can't get a developer without investment? Also, if I have investment, and can just offer a fat salary and benefits to hire somebody outright, why in the world would I give them a huge chunk of equity? Where's the motivation for me to do that, when they weren't a part of the team that made this a reality? (And the argument that "building it is making it a reality" doesn't fly, because there are 10,000 freelance developers I could hire to just build it. I need someone that can manage a department, ya' know?)
Anyway, I would absolutely love to hear all of your opinions on this topic, and maybe you can help me figure out a way to get a CTO on board? Or you can all just tell me I'm an idiot and should learn to code myself.
