On almost every public discussion board concerned with technology, one sees these posts from startups who are looking for technology partners. Why do they do that? Is it because they want their product to be built and do not have the adequate capital to get it developed?
My understanding is that most of the times that’s the case. People get enthusiastic about their idea and then they want a technical guy to develop it for them. Once it’s live then everyone –including the tech partner– would get paid much beyond one’s imagination. Right?
Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Think for a moment from a technical person’s standpoint. What would motivate him to sacrifice a fat pay job to come and work with you for free –only against future promise? If one knows you for a while and believes in your abilities then it may work, but it is very tall order for a complete stranger (whom you are targeting in the discussion board). Otherwise you may have to settle for a gullible, low-skilled software guy who stays with you for some time and then flees. A perfect recipe for failure!
Secondly, even if your idea may sound simple, the implementation may not a piece of cake for someone to merrily code away in a couple of months. Software-making is not trivial, and you may require a team to work on it instead of just one guy with a laptop.
My advice is that if you don’t have sufficient money, then first go and arrange for funds. Assuming that you really have a killer idea, talking about it to an investor or fund manager will be more productive than talking to a technical person. They simply have a lot more experience of evaluating ideas.
Even after your idea goes live, you are going to still require funds to market and sell it. You are anyways going to require funds then. Wouldn’t it be easier then if you had started with a good funding?
Once you have funds in your pocket, you have the choice of outsourcing your idea implementation to a software vendor. Choose a good vendor who will be professional, responsive and possibly understands a startup. It’s true that you are burning some money upfront (in implementation), but a good, professionally created product is a prerequisite to your startup’s success.