I'm the dreaded “Business Sales guy" with an Internet startup that "just needs a technical guy". Could it get any worse? Yes - I also worked for random companies in sales positions and have failed with a few small business ideas.

...but please put down the weapons - I have some redeeming features!

I am currently in the position financially to work 40 plus hours a week on this latest venture(Portal 4D) which is a first in my life(27 years old for those who must know). The past two months I have built the first real concept working on market validation and segmentation, have been working with consultants and tech incubators to get to the point of having a minimum viable product.

I have been working for pre-seed round funding and one thing that was impressed on me was that I need a technical co-founder. I agree.

Portal 4d is not currently built other than some wire framing ideas.

I'm looking for someone who loves the Portal 4D concept, particularly if they have worked in a customer service environment or with large companies that can not provide adequate customer service. I'm not married to a particular development platform and will be open to all suggestions.
The general concept is a virtual customer service employee who from our call center will provide our clients customers with trained assistance via video conferencing on a mobile phone or tablet.
Joining full-time would be dependent on me getting further funding (unless you really want to start full-time now which I would prefer). I haven't really started pitching seriously yet, but off the back of a few industry connections I have some pretty good investor interest.

Equity etc to be discussed!

About me: in a former life I was a in the construction business, with a degree in Construction Technology. So while I can't do much with Java, I used to be pretty good at solving real world problems with out of the box solutions. My goal is to find a co-founder who believes what I believe and work together so that we can all succeed.

Comment if you like

2/18/2015 5:39:13 PM

What is Portal 4D?

2/18/2015 5:45:35 PM

Without completely divulging the IP, Portal 4D is mobile customer service software platform that is used by existing companies to provide their customers real time assistance. Using existing technologies combined in a proprietary platform Portal 4d pairs the customer with a trained associate who can see the actual problem at hand using a mobile devices image capturing and other capabilities the associate can help the customer solve the exact problem and sell them the necessary products for the exact application.

2/18/2015 6:00:21 PM

So basically https://helpouts.google.com/ but for enterprises specifically. Not a bad idea, but there is already a HUGE amount of competition in this space.

2/18/2015 6:44:15 PM

yes similar to https://helpouts.google.com/ as you will notice they are shutting this program down in april because of its limited success....there are currently no companies in place who can provide certain industries(which I have the connections to enter once product is 60% developed) with the help they need. They need associates who can work remotely and help customer solve there own problems which they can not bring into the stores.

2/18/2015 7:16:59 PM

for those interested I have a lot more proprietary information that makes this product much different than anything on the market already which I would prefer to not continue to share on message boards...any one genuinely interested in joining please PM me...

2/18/2015 7:30:47 PM

^^Just a counterpoint. Helpouts isn't shutting down due to limited success. It's shutting down because it isn't profitable. And they are about to launch Google Support, which is a direct competitor to Amazon Mayday.

And Salesforce launched SOS (now a part of Service Cloud) http://www.salesforce.com/service-cloud/features/ last year which does this, but wrapped in an entire support toolchain with CRM, supply chain, and service integrations.

Again, not a bad idea at all, but you've got huge heavy hitters who already have products in industry that work and work well. You'd probably be better off being a Salesforce consultant to these industries and getting them setup. Lot more lucrative on a lot shorter timeframe with zero risk.

2/18/2015 7:44:13 PM

I would try looking for one of those co-founder dating type events near wherever you're located.

Though, as you can imagine, the vast majority of the people who will go to these things are people in the same boat as you, so be on the lookout for that.

Another thing you're going to really want to take some time and think about is: When you find someone who is interested in working on this, how will you ensure they're at the right technical level to be able to accomplish what you want?

2/18/2015 9:44:52 PM

^ I am using all means to find a cofounder including "dating" type events...these seem to be as you suggest a lot of people looking to do the same as me....Thought I would give this space a try.

I have a few friends that are unable to join me on this project but have solid development experience..depending on the platform the prospect would like to use I have some small test designed with these friends to check skill level....but as you can imagine this is much easier said than done..It will be a trial and error process for sure...and the fit here will be as important as anything, I am looking for some one that believes what I believe. This is going to be a long road and I don't just need a developer to jump onboard, develop and then jump ship.

I would not be against have a technical co-founder who understands the why and can help with how it will happen. Then hire a developer. As the vision and process is more important to me than the application itself.

2/19/2015 11:29:48 AM

Quote :

"Not a bad idea, but there is already a HUGE amount of competition in this space."

I'm not aware of any idea, good or bad, where this isn't true.

2/20/2015 4:16:01 PM

Quote :

"I have a lot more proprietary information"

OP confirmed bullshitter

BTW IDK why he name-dropped Java when he could have just run Django: Python Unchained atop some ruby rails or something.
At least he didn't say ASP.NET, because we all know nothing of significance is built on that

2/20/2015 8:28:52 PM

not a bullshitter...I would not waste my time or yours... I realize this is a forum where people are free to talk shit although this does nothing to advance my cause or help me...thank you to those who are legitimately here to help...obviously I am not a tech guy, I am someone who is looking for one...I realize Java would offer me little benefit...maybe you will notice the sarcasm of the "name drop" in the last paragraph of my OP...and although I know "proprietary information" sounds like BS I know that my business has less than a 10% chance of succeeding and although unlikely sharing any unnecessary information here could decrease my chances.....nice post about Java BTW...

http://thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=643894

2/20/2015 10:05:13 PM

I work in IT for a top 100 fortune and i will say shit like this they love. You just have to sell it.

Self help is a big deal - for all functions in the enterprise. Not just IT shit but each function having it's on specific processes.

I think you need to take a step further. integrate a training/certificate module that ties to LDAP/Employee file. If i don't know something or i'm required to know something, i know where to go. Learning history, etc.

You could really kill it and make a ton of money. I didn't even know about the sales force thing. That's nice.

2/21/2015 8:56:34 AM

I just wanted to say thanks for the meme

2/23/2015 12:37:20 PM

I realize this thread is about finding a technical co-founder....which I am not. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

2/23/2015 1:02:28 PM

I knew it was here after reading OPs first post.

2/23/2015 2:09:06 PM

How does anyone ever take these people seriously?

2/23/2015 8:00:26 PM

Quote :

"Equity etc to be discussed!"

It's still hard for me to believe that a technical co-founder should accept anything less than majority or matching equity. You had an idea, now I'm going to slave away on the product for 6+ months, all for 20% equity or less? That's generally how these deals go.

An "idea guy" would have to have one hell of a pitch to get me anywhere near considering it. Like, you need to have a proven track record of developing sales funnels, closing sales, and strong marketing skills. You know, all the things that a developer doesn't want to do and probably isn't good at.

2/23/2015 10:32:54 PM

Yeah, co-founder means equal share at least

2/24/2015 12:52:52 AM

Pretty sure this is the plot to Betas.

2/24/2015 8:48:05 AM

ay jmshimer hook your thirsty ass up with this dude:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9100089

2/24/2015 11:26:35 AM

I reached out to this guy. Maybe these are the type of posts he is referring to?

No offense but based on your past wolf web postings not sure really look like a person that would fit well with what I am doing... pretty pissed considering I was actually trying to be of help.

2/24/2015 2:25:27 PM