1. enroll in an engineering school. oops. 2. study CS, or take relevant classes. Ok, I can take relevant classes. half-oops. 3. go to all classes to see the real hackers. Real hackers aren't going to be in "introduction to programming." oops. 4. hang out with admirable hackers. Icebreakers anyone? oops.
Your post presumes a lot of favorable conditions which do not apply to many people your article is addressed to; the problem is left unsolved. It looks like a rather gaping problem, so why not address it? A matchmaking service!
I was told of an annual entrepreneurship program in Taiwan, where small teams of all hackers and all business folks apply via separate tracks. The winners then get matched together. It's quite an intriguing concept and definitely worth exploring further.
"Stay in touch with the potential cofounders you've already found."
I met my cofounder when we lived across from each other in college at the Arts Theme House. We just didn't know we were cofounders yet. At the time, I was a physics major - my cofounder knew that I had previously worked at a tech startup, but he had no idea that I was still into computers (I'm not sure I was, at the time), or that I'd done several major side projects. I knew him as a psych major who was a bit of an electronics whiz - I had no idea that he wanted to go into entrepreneurship or the Internet space. For that matter, I don't think he did either.
I didn't find out what he was doing until I went over to catch up with him at Homecoming. I knew that he'd been at a consulting firm (via FaceBook), but usually consultants go into big business instead of Web2.0 startups. Even then, I didn't join immediately - he had someone else picked out as a technical cofounder. It was only after the previous technical cofounder quit (for visa reasons) that I joined up with him.
Also - there's a common misconception that top-notch hackers spend all their time hacking. They spend a lot of time hacking, but most have other interests. For example, Guy Steele sings bass in choir and does swing dancing. Paul Graham writes essays and paints. One of the top hackers I knew at college was a CS/Theater double major. IMNSHO, these people often have better technical chops than the single-minded, socially awkward computer geek.
Also, I don't think hackers dislike Java. Judging by the number of Open Source projects in Java, I'd say it is popular among volunteers, too (not only people being forced to by their superiors are using it).
I am not sure studying programming is a good idea, either. I would also like to have a co-founder who is a graphics designer, marketing is good, too, generally somebody who gets things moving.
But lets think about this, you have a hacker who thinks he doesn't need a non-hacker. Well, most of the applications that hackers most likely build is for other hackers. When you speak to VCs, how many of them are hackers? Or a bunch of hacker guys building a 'fashion site'...uh what do guys know about fashion. In this case, I would go find a non-hacker chick to join the team b/c she'll know all the avenues and forum girls go to - marketing power.
You can build, but what you build won't always get users. I know there seems to be a view in Silicon Valley that MBAs are morons but it's wrong to lump them all into one group. I could easily say that a lot of hackers, while brilliant, may build something really 'cool' but so entirely 'useless.'
A hacker and non-hacker team is the best combination. You both need each other equally. There's no "I" in "Team."
You can't build a successful tech business with a hired hacker. By choosing to hire, you'll only be able to attract programmers who are willing to work for the money you can pay them. The cream of the crop will pass you up in favor of startups that give them equity. Your first technical person sets a ceiling on the technical ability of your subsequent hires, because bad programmers are not able to recognize great ones.
If you're right and you do find a market niche that's extremely profitable, you'll invite competition. One of those competitors will inevitably have a top-notch hacker as a cofounder, and then you'll get eaten for lunch as their small, nimble team of elite hackers copies everything you do and then innovates way beyond it.
Many companies tried this approach in the dot-com boom, with predictable results. For example, Altavista/Lycos/Infoseek got eaten by Google, Value America by Amazon, Friendster and now MySpace by FaceBook.
For the Woz: how could he find a Jobs?
