Slashdot Mirror
Where To Find Ambitious Business Partners?
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?"
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?"
your local pre-owned car lot?
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
Slashdot has turned into the want ads?
"The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." - Patton
I don't know if this guy is trying to be funny or what but linking to Wikipedia's explanation of an MBA is just not necessary. Too many links just piss people off. That "eskimos to igloos" crap just gets tired.
No better businessmen in the world than a politician. Should be some starting to look for work in the next day or two (Senators are good, but aren't as cheap as House Representatives, who you can usually get a package deal for).
just seek out the people who are *doing* things in areas you'd think might have money in them. like, people who's software make the most impact in some niche-subcultures... people that do stuff other people are too lazy to do have often a ton of ideas in the back pocket.
:P(for example, in the mobile-phone soft biz there's *tons* of stuff happening but already I can see that some of them aren't gonna make be around after couple of years, a bubble of sorts is in the making, lot's of ideas but some lack the longevity, on the other hand a lot of these ideas are doable for cheap - but on the other hand lots of companies are going to 'make it').
the problem with some genius level stuff is thought that there's no money in it
(dunno really, finance some of russel's ideas.. )
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Just keep checking under every rock, eventually you'll find the sort of thing you're after.
Isnt it obvious that this is how business relationships are formed? I keep getting these e-mails from people I dont know asking to form business partnerships. I mean, I'm not really financially available to do such things, but it seems to be acceptable, at least in Nigeria...
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
Pissing into the wind since 1982!
Talk about your ideas. Talk about them with your friends. Talk about them with business associates. Takj about them with strangers. These people find you, not the other way around.
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!
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Ask Woz!
this i what i get for posting at 4 am.
.com craze(and was smart enough to learn to keep his feet on the ground).
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
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
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, here's some links to help you execute, IE, find some talent....
Search google for headhunters
Guru
Elance
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."
The exact people that you are "seeking" are too busy either:
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!
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
Not that I would know, being but a lowly techwizard myself, but perhaps you should go to the source? Universities are still popping out MBAs like it's going out of style. Find a reputable university and ask their job placement department or business professors about fresh MBAs to exploit.
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
The point of much of the computer revolution is to eliminate the "infrastructure" people in business. We don't have dictation pools of secretarys any more, there are no mail room boys because we use email, who needs marketing when you can run a google adwords campaign in a few minutes a day, and instead of an accounts receivable dept., just use Kagi.
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 give his schpiel, and you'll be "Yo, that's my man."
Oh, and if you find two, please send me one (I think the nearest university to me specializes in animal husbandry) -- like you, I've kicked a few products out in my time, too, and have a pile of new technology I am actively working on but which will fade away under-utilized if I don't either switch back to sales mode or find myself a Steve Jobs. As someone else commented earlier: join the club.
Dear Sir: I have been requested by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company to contact you to assistance you in your enevour. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company has recently concluded a large number of contracts for oil exploration in the sub-Sahara region. The contracts have immediately produced moneys equalling US$40,000,000. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company is desirous to use this money to help you with your brilliant software inventions. However, because of certain regulations of the Nigerian Government, it is unable to move these funds to another region. Please sending me your account information for the banking establishment you are being using. We will wire money into this account at our earliest availability. Bingma Amita, Official Nigerian Petroleum Official/Venture Capatist
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
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?
11*43+456^2
I handed over CEOship of my startup to a sales guy in 1998, and Red Hat bought the company in 2000. So I definitely understand your position.
Your best bet is to connect with local business development groups (in Pittsburgh, it was the Pittsburgh Technology Council) and groups like SCORE. 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.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
I'm a tech guy that's taken a couple of business courses (Ohio State's Fischer college), but I'm not exactly what you might call business savy. Anyways, if you simply want to go some place with MBAs, consider checking out the college scene. For instance, I'm taking a class in technology commercialization right now and 80% of the people in it are MBA students. And contrary to popular opinion, the MBAs in the class seem fairly bright and are experienced.
That said, if you're actually trying to start a business around some kind of technology idea, and if you don't know the business end, you should be looking to partner up with someone experienced in business within the particular sector of the particular industry you are trying to break into. Preferably someone with connections.
Did any of you actually look at the links? bootstrapping / kidney sale on ebay, integrity / SCO, angel investors / piggy bank.
ROFL
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
HahahahahahA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!112341324OMFG
Try 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 people looking for things to do hang out.
I don't think you can find a bunch of "good people" given all the glorious things you've mentioned, then sit them down in the room and finally reveal what the business is about... And even if you do reveal details, most people won't care unless you are specific about what they get in return (e.g. 20% stake).
Another way to deal with this is to hire a headhunter.
Some MBAs do read slashdot you know...
(Though in my case I'd almost certainly be in the wrong country.)
a world in progress...
My god, you're right, that's freakin' hysterical! :)
I have had a sting of lame business partners. They are all hot for my ideas and when it comes to real work they sort of drift off like disinterested craigslist dates. Ambitious won't cut it. They are like horny dates, hot for what you got but gone in the morning. You are gonna need college grads with about three or four years of actual experiance as middle-upper management. The Startup model has always been a Beard and several Suits. This works, you need more then one Suit. Some of the warning signs are the suit is sort of hip. You want bland bland bland. Anal Cost accountants are best. Hip business people are dangerous because they are constantly on the make. You need to know some of the signs for lameness.
'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.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
Sit at the bar and strike up a conversation with some guy you'd never talk to under normal circumstances.. he or she is probably well-dressed with a big smile, a loud voice and plenty of fair weather friends around....
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 hours on end and they you meet more people who are over 20 years of age too... some are even graduates with real degrees.
Oh yeah, this works well for meeting girls too.
I know, I know it sounds utterly stupid, I mean what's the internet for if you're just going to go out and meet people in person... but hey, chat rooms haven't worked out so far so it might just be worth a try.
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
It is hard to retire when you are always working. Learn a language and move abroad, lots of buzzword Eddies around the world.
The GPL, for those that truely understand.
I'm talented (or so my PhD advisor tells me).
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).
www.salesdot.com
Salesdot - News for Twerps. Stuff that doesn't matter.
Your question is where do I find a suit who wants to be exploited. Stop trying to exploit and start trying to partner.
-- $G
The story went into the crapper the minute he assered "I am a technical wizard".
Hoo-fucking-ray for you. Now get back to work...
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?
CEOs of technical companies need a thorough understanding of technical issues. HP's Carly Fiorina has little technical knowledge and it shows. For example, HP printer drivers are often amazingly buggy. An August 13, 2004 article asks "Is Carly Toast Yet?". The article says, "HP's stock price is down 62% since she arrived at the company."
Technical companies are extraordinarily abusive. For example, look at what Ed Foster has to say about warranty fulfillment: At the Manufacturer's Discretion. One reason for the abusiveness seems to be that most managers of technical companies have little or no technical knowledge. The only way they know to increase the (short-term) profit of a company is to abuse the customer.
The manager of a technically-oriented company needs excellent communication and social skills and a thorough understanding of the business of the company. Few people have the necessary range and depth of skills.
i've been in 4 very small startups (3-15 people) and the core group always starts w/ people that know each other from past projects. then they network outwards getting the best people they know to refer the best people they know. last startup i was at had mostly ph.d's (altho i'm a HS dropout) and some of the best salespeople i ever met (referred to us by the harvard MBA ceo asking the very impressive board members to refer us to some salespeople). basically Class A people hire Class A people. class B people hire class C and D people. so ask the people you trust the most, don't go asking anonymous people.
OOooooh, i like that! May i use this quote? Thanks so much, you just made my day... :-D
Someone already mentioned Linkedin so I'll skip to the buggy premise.
How does a geek find a suit that wants to be exploited?
Trying to reverse the power structure will be painful. If you succeed and are noticed external suits will try to take you down, counterexamples are not tolerated, proceed with caution.
Some of the comments above seem to me to be on point. The folks you really want tend to be pretty busy working or trying to take advantage of the time they have off.
And don't forget the "executive message board" - the golf course.
Anyway, if you happen to see this, email me.
"...I would look around places like
First mistake... Last mistake. Most people here couldn't restore their Dell back to factory configuration even with the original media. However, If you're after a first year student computer science guru-wannabe who'll churn out a few badly coded lines of Perl and then rape your cat, you've come to the right place. HTH.
Dude, seriously, these guys are aggressive and driven.
And have no morals.
Exactly what you are looking for.
-Peter
The alternative is that there are plenty of willing "business partners" from Nigeria or Zimbabwe.
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