great post but i fear this is why designers don't get the credit they deserve. because in reality, designers usually tend to be a freelancer. the ones paying them, also tend to leave their relationships at that, just as a freelancer.
but i can name a few startups were able to completely take advantage of freelancers and not give a single credit back, such as mint.com (i maybe wrong but i did recall hearing the founder saying he hired a freelancer for their site for very low cash). once built, mint.com's design was spread all over the internet and posted for best designs showcase, etc... they might have gotten more initial press from the design community than their concept alone. but more likely the designers probably got nothing, while the initial developers gets a nice chunk of equity. it seems like it's a bit one sided. what happened to the days when beautiful art was worth more than what money can buy? now art is something you just buy in the streets for $10.
i'm a developer and i can't design to save my life. that's part of the reason why i have a great level of respect for great designers. i'd like to see them more as active founders in the startup community but it's really hard to find them.
so i don't know if this is just the nature of designers, just wanting to stay out of the business, and just satisfied with their project by project life. maybe they just really love to design, and quite simply satisfied with their life.
if that's the case then well great. but i feel that great designers are also worth a lot more than just a single paycheck.
I wasn't writing about designers specifically. I believe what I wrote applies equally well to coders or business guys.
And I think you're extrapolating from the 10% (or maybe even 1%) successful cases like Mint.com to imply that equity is worth more than cash, but remember that in most cases equity in a startup is worth absolutely nothing.
- It's not easy to find a business partner, but it's awesome to have one, it is very important to have someone you trust and has stake it in to share opinions.
- Start any ways, will be easier to find a partner once you have a more solid vision and have something to show.
- Have a good network? Get freelancers to work for you for a reduced fee and in exchange get them good paying gigs with other companies.
- Stop thinking the equity is gold, it's worthless till you have something that sells.
"Start any ways, will be easier to find a partner once you have a more solid vision and have something to show."
This didn't occur to me until I was almost finished writing, so it's last in my list. But thinking about it, this may be the most important point.
After all, why would you go looking for a co-founder right from the start? If you're a coder, you should at least build a prototype yourself. If you're a designer, you should design some mockups.
It'll be much easier to convince someone to join you if you can show more than just an idea.
"Launching a one-man startup now has a very low barrier to entry. So we end up with a world where everybody wants to be a startup founder, and nobody wants to be a co-founder."
a very sad world, where the only person with skin in the game you have to bounce ideas with (or take the heat it takes to build a business with you) is... yourself.
Should be retitled to "Stop looking for a tech/design co-founder".
I'm a developer who knows very little of the business world. If I were to launch a startup I could probably use someone with some business savvy, and they tend not to freelance.
I would love to know if many business guys are getting pitched by startups, for equity positions, and how they handle these offers.
(And if business guys are seeing a lot of offers like we do in the tech community, or if they're too busy dreaming up their own startup ideas to pay attention to someone else's.)
It's your hypothetical startup so feel free to run it however you want, but I'm pretty sure there are tons of examples of successful startups launched by developers who knew very little of the business world.
but i can name a few startups were able to completely take advantage of freelancers and not give a single credit back, such as mint.com (i maybe wrong but i did recall hearing the founder saying he hired a freelancer for their site for very low cash). once built, mint.com's design was spread all over the internet and posted for best designs showcase, etc... they might have gotten more initial press from the design community than their concept alone. but more likely the designers probably got nothing, while the initial developers gets a nice chunk of equity. it seems like it's a bit one sided. what happened to the days when beautiful art was worth more than what money can buy? now art is something you just buy in the streets for $10.
i'm a developer and i can't design to save my life. that's part of the reason why i have a great level of respect for great designers. i'd like to see them more as active founders in the startup community but it's really hard to find them.
so i don't know if this is just the nature of designers, just wanting to stay out of the business, and just satisfied with their project by project life. maybe they just really love to design, and quite simply satisfied with their life.
if that's the case then well great. but i feel that great designers are also worth a lot more than just a single paycheck.