We live in a world where it is getting harder and more frustrating to get the ideal business partner or startup co-founder. It’s important for business owners to have places where they can find people who have the right skill set to help build a business. Finding a co-founder is the most important thing for any startup because the co-founder usually is the first hire. Moreover, this hire can determine whether your startup will be successful or not.
Of course, there are a few other things that will determine the success of your startup beyond just having a good co-founder. For instance, garnering media coverage by using proven PR strategies can direct attention to your startup, leading to more success. Additionally, reaching out to journalists and building strong relationships with them can improve the level of publicity you get. All of these can be achieved with the help of an affordable PR firm that caters to startups, like Pressfarm. Partnering with an agency like this instead of using expensive PR experts who make grand promises but don’t deliver on them can help you save lots of money.
You might have a great business idea but perhaps you lack the technical skills to turn the dream into a reality. If this is the case for you, then finding a co-founder can help you actualize your business idea. Unfortunately, finding the right co-founder who will develop your idea is not easy. To make this process a bit less stressful, we have made a list of the best places online to get a co-founder for your startup.
1. StartHawk
StartHawk is a new startup looking to create a community where entrepreneurs and co-founders can meet and discuss their ideas. The platform works by matchmaking founders and co-founders from all over the world. The goal of this company is to help any entrepreneur to launch their idea even when they do not have the skill set required to build it.
Membership is currently free. Moreover, you can easily start searching for a co-founder or join hands to build something with someone you meet on the platform.
2. Startup Weekend
Startup weekends are 54-hour-long events that happen over the course of the weekend beginning Friday and ending on Sunday. You can meet entrepreneurs, designers, marketers, product managers, developers, and startup enthusiasts here. The goal is to build products and launch them in just one weekend.This is the ultimate meeting place for anyone who wants to interact with like-minded people who are excited about the idea of building their own businesses and products. Stats indicate that 36% of the startups launched here over these weekends have gone on to become profitable businesses that are currently thriving. During the event, you also get to meet the movers and shakers of your community. Who knows – maybe you will strike gold, and find both an investor and a co-founder to form a formidable startup team.
Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. On Saturday and Sunday, teams focus on customer development. This includes validating business ideas, practising LEAN startup methodologies, and building a minimal viable product. On Sunday, evening teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts.
3. CoFoundersLab
CoFoundersLab prides itself on a network of 40,000 entrepreneurs, advisers, and interns who make a great combination for the newest startups. Joining the site is free and there isn’t any screening involved. You post your profile for free and are allowed to search the whole network for your ideal partner.
Using the basic plan or free plan if you like, you can contact a maximum of 5 co-founders per month. However, there’s also a paid plan that offers a wide range of features. These include the ability to contact an unlimited number of co-founders per month and suggestions of recommended candidates for your startup. With the paid plan, you also get priority in search listings where you get seen on top of the results page when entrepreneurs are searching for co-founders. Additional advantages of the paid plan include the ability to see who viewed you, a compatibility score gauge, and advanced filtering.
CoFoundersLab is essentially like a dating network for entrepreneurs, advisors, and interns and has the largest pool of the same so far. The plans start from $20 per month for 3 months, $17 per month for 6 months, and $10 per month for 12 months.
4. Founder2be
Users of Founder2be say that it’s similar to the dating site Match.com, but for tech co-founders, developers, designers, and other professionals all over the world. Creating an account is simple and not subject to any rigorous checks. On this platform, you can find co-founder candidates with different skill sets. The platform accommodates developers, designers, engineers, marketers, product managers, business developers, salespersons, and advisors. You can also launch your startup on the site, get your very first customers, and get funding.
5. Younoodle
Younoodle stands out from the other platforms on this list because it operates a little differently. The platform uses competitions and contests to connect co-founders, entrepreneurs, and advisors. A startup itself, Younoodle has carried out 400 different contests and challenges. After the contests, opportunities arise for the various co-founders and entrepreneurs. These include the ability to get funding from the investors who were following the competitions. Younoodle is famous among universities, governments, accelerators, and corporations alike. It’s most effective for judging and screening applicants for various competitions or funding deals.
6. Founders Nation
Founders Nation provides a very simple search tool for finding the ideal co-founder. You can log in via Facebook. This allows the people viewing your profile to verify that you are a real person. You can search for co-founders from a particular location with specific skill sets using the platform’s search tool.
7. YC Co-founder Matching Platform
The popular startup accelerator, Y Combinator, also offers a free platform where co-founders can find the perfect person to launch and run a business with. Simply sign up for an account and create a user profile and the platform will generate a list of matches based on your preferences. You can then scroll through these recommendations and connect with the people who stand out.
8. Lead Candy
Lead Candy is one of the most revolutionary places to get connections with entrepreneurs, marketers, developers, co-founders, and partners today. It bridges the distance between your social media accounts and has all your connections in one portal. You can search the platform for any type of professional you want to connect with and get in touch with them in a minute. For example, when you search for a developer on the platform, you get several results. When you choose a name, depending on your location and their location, the Lead Candy tool analyzes your social media connections and theirs as well. It will come up with someone you know who knows someone who knows the developer you are interested in.
Lead Candy searches your social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus to find a common connection between you and the partner you are interested in. The Lead Candy team then contacts this common connection to connect both of you. This is a very solid way of generating a solid interaction when you eventually meet this person. Lead Candy is definitely a good option to help find your co-founder.
9. Meetup
Meetup allows you to create a local group or find one that already exists in your location. In these groups, you can meet with other business marketers, product managers, developers, engineers, designers, etc. to work on ideas that you are passionate about. Meetup is popular for local meetups. You will be pleasantly surprised to find that many people are excited to share new business ideas and create the ideal team for a startup. Go join the meetup groups today and you might just meet the ideal co-founder close to you.
12. Y Combinator Co-founder Matching
Y Combinator Co-founder Matching works so well because it helps you find a co-founder based on pre-determined criteria such as interests, skills, and location. The platform vets all its users, meaning that you only meet high-quality matches. Y Combinator Co-founder Matching is designed to be easy to use. Once your profile is approved, Y Combinator sends you recommended matches based on your preferences. If you see a match who you’re interested in, the platform helps you craft the perfect personalized message. From there, all you need to do is wait for your match to accept the invite.
13. r/cofounder
r/cofounder is a subreddit dedicated to entrepreneurs looking for a co-founder to help with their venture. All you need to do is post on the thread to state that you’re looking for a co-founder. However, this platform only works if you’re very specific about the exact kind of person that you’re looking for.
14. Indie Hackers
Indie Hackers is an online platform that was built to connect entrepreneurs with groups dedicated to specific interests. One of the groups, Looking to Partner Up, is dedicated to entrepreneurs who are looking for co-founders to build a business with. The groups on Indie Hackers work a little like subreddits on Reddit. You can create a post to share details about the kind of co-founder you’re looking for or comment under someone else’s post if you’d like to be a co-founder in their venture.
15. FoundersList
FoundersList offers entrepreneurs an intuitive search engine to help them filter through potential co-founders by location, business stage, and type of co-founder. In addition to this feature, the platform is home to many groups that attract entrepreneurs looking to network. This is also a good place to find networking events within your niche, giving you a chance to meet potential co-founders face-to-face.
16. The Founder Institute
The Founder Institute (FI) has made a name for itself as a place where entrepreneurs can turn their ideas into successful startups and then turn these startups into established global businesses. To put this into perspective, FI has helped launch 2,500 companies across 200+ cities and 6 continents.
In addition to providing the support system, network, and feedback that entrepreneurs need to turn their startups into successful businesses early on, FI is home to a community where you can find the perfect co-founder for your startup.
Have we forgotten any other website that is a great resource for finding co-founders for startups? Have anything to add to this article? Let us know by chatting with us on Twitter @pressfarmpr.
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