kluikens

Hi all, I started taking an idea that's been burning in my head for a couple years more seriously recently.

I'm starting to think more seriously about who my target audience/market is, how big said market is and the available money within that market, first functional versions of the application, and so on. I spent most of this last weekend just in front of my white boards, sketching out ideas and writing down lists of things to do or areas I need to research so I can turn my guesses and assumptions into assertions based on facts. I started wondering if it might be worth it to apply for the next YCombinator round and read over Drew Houston's application for Dropbox Saturday night (thanks Drew!). That made me realize how far I have to go before I can even start to ask if the idea is an endeavor worth pursuing. Reading over Paul's guide on how to apply reinforced that I'm not to the single founder rule. So, I've added "Find a cofounder" to my to-do list.

Thing is, I've been "looking" for a cofounder for a while. I don't actively search, but I often share my ideas (and especially this one) among programming friends I trust. All are nice and feign interest, but nobody is as passionate about raw data from public records like I am. Maybe I should be studying Statistics instead of CS? ;) Some friends are interested, but those few are at most a fraction as passionate as I am about my idea. Of course, I understand it's my idea and that's why I'm passionate about it. But I wouldn't feel comfortable coding this idea up with anyone who's not even close to as passionate as I am about it. I'm not crazy, right? From all that I read, especially from Paul and HN, it seems that both/all parties need to have this insatiable drive in order to have any chance.

So, is it possible to actively search for a co-founder? Has that worked for anyone?

tldr; Getting serious about idea for a business; have told friends and although some are interested, none are passionate/hungry; is it possible to find a cofounder? for that relationship to work if it wasn't pre-existing?

A co-worker had been working off 'n on, on a project that virtually has same foundations as WePay. I showed him their site last night and he wasn't too happy, understandably. It served as a real reminder that some of my ideas might never be realized, just for the fact that I can't work on them full-time.

So, as a full-time student who's working flex hours -- are there good, responsible ways to outsource some of my projects in order to get them to a functional status? The ability to program isn't the issue, time is.

I'm not necessarily looking for people to write code for cents on the dollar (my assumption is that I'll still have to look over all the code looking for mistakes), but are there good alternatives?

Additionally, I would love to hear any members' experiences.

I am. Just curious who else will be too.

I don't have any 'real-life' hacker news friends and wouldn't mind making some. If so, any of y'all going to any of the standard after parties? (All I know of).

Hello all, I'm a Computer Science undergraduate and although I've had a general interest in computer security and exploits, I'm becoming more fascinated due to a security talk series in my department.

So, my question is where I can get "involved" and stay up to date with the industry? Are there forums that are common knowledge to security professionals? Listservs? Are there restricted forums to proven white hats? If I were to go it on my own, I guess I'd start with watching DEFCON and SchmooCon presentations and reading articles in Phrack -- just because that's what I know of.

I'd like to entertain my curiosity and see if this industry is where I'd like to spend my career. Any and all comments or suggestions are welcome! :)