[nearmint]

Hi smt88, having lots of time is important. But the good people are usually very busy already. I know some C level guys, who would just leave their job and work with me. But the cool guys are different. Usually the cool guys are already in good positions and wouldn't just run away from current responsibilities.

I have to take certain steps, or just start working part-time with them, not forcing anything, so that one will eventually get rid of his other responsibilities to work with me.

What do you think?

[smt88]

If you want to get something done, make progress every day. If working part-time with these A people is fast enough to do what you want, then you don't need a technical co-founder. If it's not, then don't wait for them to quit their jobs. If the timing is right sometime in the future, great! If not, don't let them be a bottleneck for you.

The recipe for finding a great co-founder is this: perfect timing + passion + skill set.

Skills are the least important. You only need your technical co-founder to be good enough to help you make your first sale. After that, hopefully you'll be making enough revenue to take you to profitability. If not, you can try to raise money.

So how do you find the timing/passion parts?

This is where luck comes in. You can make your own luck by meeting lots and lots of people. You should network like crazy. The best networking is offering to help people without any expectation of something in return. The more people in the world who owe you a favor, the better.

You should tell everyone about your ideas. They'll tell friends whom they think might be interested. Word will get around. Don't be scared to share your ideas with anyone/everyone.

There's a lot to this, to be honest. I think if you spend time in the Bay Area, you'll drastically improve your chances of finding a co-founder. It also helps to be tackling a big, sexy issue that makes potential partners drool (e.g. transportation, education, etc.)

There are also some accelerators where you come in without an idea. You meet the other people, get some money, and then form teams to create products. Since money is not much of an issue for you AND you've been successful in the past, one of those programs would be perfect for you.

You might want to hop onto Clarity or something and have a conversation with a Silicon Valley expert/VC about this. I'm not the best person to suggest concrete steps because your path is so different from mine.