After the successful launch of the first Co-Founders Wanted Denver at Galvanize last week there emerged a reoccurring question between the Denver and Co-Founders Wanted Boulder meetups that should be addressed.
What is the BEST way to find a co-founder? This is something brought up often and the truth is it doesnt really matter what the format startup founders are just people like anyone else. To be a pro at anything, sports, business, or otherwise it takes preparation, dedication, and practice like anything else. People are asking how to find a match on a long term endeavor as if it is different than any other long term partnership... it's not. Regardless of where you are in life it does take a little bit of luck and some people skills to get you connected to the right person the steps to finding a good match arent any different than any other human connection.
I've outlined a few things that make any meetup more effective:
1.) Do your damn homework. I speak from experience in the camp of just showing up and making magic happen, which does happen, sometimes. It doesnt happen often enough to not prepare. You can go to meetup after meetup and hope serendipity strikes but wouldn’t you rather encourage it to happen by means within your control? You’re making plans to go to an event where people are excited to grow the economy and ideas flow like wine in one convenient spot. There is a LIST of the people you might come in contact with conveniently located where you can sort through and identify people that might be a good match. Use it!
Doing it right means having at least 3 people that you would like to get to know BEFORE you go to a meetup, Co-Founders Wanted or otherwise, heed this advice. You will exponentially increase your probability of finding a potential co-founder by doing some research before you show up to the event. This is no different than any other business interaction. One of my favorite people and fellow LinkedIn advocate Perry Quinn taught me at my first startup gig to pull up the profile of whom you’re going to be talking to before EVERY call or meetup. You’ll improve rapport and you look like a pro by knowing a little about whom you’re potentially doing business with before you ever open your mouth (or type a sentence as the case often is now days).
When you have more information about who you’re going to be speaking with you’re more likely to make a strong connection, close the sale, build a partnership, or just make a friend and it doesn’t cost you anything but a little time.
2.) Efficiency is important. There are a handful of types of people you will commonly find in any crowd, especially one geared towards entrepreneurs and startups. If you’ve been to many of these meetups you can spot the time wasters somewhat quickly. These are the people that are excited to tell you the life story of their idea, startup, family history, and anything else you’ll listen to while you’re in front of them. Let me note… there is nothing wrong with this; however, you’re at an event with a finite period of time with the goal of making a connection to start your business. Keep your interactions relatively brief.
There is nothing wrong with exchanging information if you are enjoying hearing how someone got to where they are and setting a meeting to catch up outside of the event where time is not limited. Conversely, if you’re a storyteller it isn’t a bad thing but keep it brief and schedule appointments for potential matches. Believe me, I am a talker. I love to share all of the interesting tidbits I find around the web every day but a two hour meetup where I need to find someone to help me launch my business is not the place to be doing this.
It takes a little practice but if you pay attention you can find the sweet spot between listening to enough of a story to gauge a match and who is just talking to talk. Make a connection, be memorable, exchange information, and move on.
3.) Trust your gut. It is often the most true guide to who is going to fit well with who you are and where you’re going. Your instincts take into account SO many underlying factors that your optimistic entrepreneurial self might try to override in hopes of pursuing an idea. You know. You know very quickly if someone fits with your personality and when starting any kind of long term venture with someone it’s even more critical. If you truly go on to start a successful business it will be one of the most trying endeavors you’ve ever set out on. Be open minded to people that arent your twin but know that this is a person you're going to have to deal with over heated topics for a long period of time.
The person you do this with needs to be someone you click with or it isn’t going to work. It’s kind of like falling in love, so I hear. You just know. This person just ‘gets it’. Those are all indicators of your gut telling you to get to know this person better and it is more often right than wrong.
Doing things like the entrepreneur archetype survey on CoFoundersLab, knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, and having a clear idea of where you’re headed will help you find the right person faster than just going to a bigger meetup or lots of different meetups. Co-Founders Wanted meetups seek to educate people and facilitate bringing the right people together at the right time and it is helping people all around the country do amazing things.
The events are out there. The people are out there. The time is always right. It’s up to you to put in the leg work beforehand to buy lady luck that first drink and a give her a grin so she returns her sweet smile at the right place and right time to get you where you’re going a little more quickly. Remember, you're exactly where you're supposed to be.