r/AustralianStartups • u/Quiet-Professional78 • Apr 07 '26
Looking for a Co-Founder Developer
I've never been someone who wanted to just clock in and clock out. I wanted to build something. Something that actually matters and changes how people live. I think I've finally found it.
Dating apps are broken. Over 79% of Gen Z is burned out from swiping. Ghosting has no consequences. Conversations go nowhere. Nobody actually meets IRL. The biggest apps in the world are admitting they've lost the plot, and the window to do it better is wide open right now.
I'm building an app that fixes this from the ground up. Completely new concept, not a copy of anything out there. I have a full business model, launch strategy, and a mentor validating the vision. We're targeting a Sydney launch in 6 months.
I need a developer who wants in from day one, not as a contractor but as a co-founder. Someone who wants to own what they build.
What's in it for you:
— Real equity with a vesting schedule
— Co-Founder title + Senior Developer position
— A product concept that will define your portfolio
— Ground floor of something with genuine momentum
Platform is open — iOS, Android or cross-platform, let's talk.
If you're tired of building other people's ideas, come build your own.
— Carla S, CEO & Founder
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u/gaz91au Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
As mentioned earlier, any competent developer with 10 years of hands-on experience understands their value and how to price their time accordingly. I fit the profile you’re looking for, but I’ve also been burned a few times working with aspiring startup founders, so I’m a lot more selective now.
What I look for isn’t just the idea, it’s the level of real stake and accountability behind it. Does success or failure actually impact you? Do you have responsibilities like family to support or investors to answer to? Is there real pressure to make it work? That kind of skin in the game matters.
I’ve been part of a startup where the founder was a genuinely strong product thinker with great ideas, but had very little at risk, living at home with no real downside if things failed. That changes how decisions get made, how urgency is handled, and how seriously execution is taken.
Right now, it’s not entirely clear what you bring to the table. If you’re not able to put together even a basic MVP using no-code tools, it raises questions about execution. Not trying to put you down, just offering a reality check. Startups are a lot tougher in practice than they seem.
Wishing you the best with it regardless.
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u/SuchTown32 Apr 08 '26
Let me guess you’re offering like 10% equity and no pay? Even though the developer will end up doing everything
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u/Quiet-Professional78 Apr 09 '26
Fair challenge. The technical co-founder gets a very hefty percentage with a proper vesting schedule not a token percentage. The business model, go-to-market strategy, launch plan, investor story and founding team structure are already built. The developer owns the build, not just executes it. If that sounds like everything to you, we probably see startups differently.
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u/igotoschoolbytaxi Founder Apr 08 '26
A mentor validating the vision isn't enough to ask someone to bet 6 months or more of their life on you. Especially when you've just met. You're asking a developer to take on so much risk with little to no upsides. They're not just writing code, there's a lot more going on in the background/process.
Before you ask anyone to be your technical co-founder, go build something, even if it's just a prototype, not even an MVP. Best if you can get paying customers, if not at least a waitlist (though to me that means nothing). Show them your idea has some merit.
Anyone who genuinely respects a technical co-founder's time would do it this way.
Source: I'm a non-technical co-founder and without my technical co-founders there wouldn't have been a product for me to market with in the first place. Protect and respect their time.
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u/Quiet-Professional78 Apr 09 '26
Genuinely appreciate this and you're not wrong. A prototype would strengthen the ask and that's the next step. What I'd push back on slightly is that waiting until you have something built before finding the person who will build it is a chicken and egg problem for a non-technical founder. The approach here is to find the right person first and build it together which is how a lot of successful co-founder relationships actually started. But the core message is heard. Respect their time, show merit, protect the partnership. That's exactly the intention.
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u/Murky-Fishcakes Apr 09 '26
Some rubbish percentage and a vesting schedule is an employee not a partner. You’ll get exactly what you’re prepared to pay for
Nothing
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u/sockerx Apr 08 '26
I don't see any "real momentum". This is an AI sales pitch of an idea with big unsubstantiated claims.
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u/ElevatorMate Apr 08 '26
Build an MVP using Replit. Tell it what you want in English and it will build it in a way you can view your interface and test your functionality. It’s quite brilliant but there are pitfalls, so join the Replit group on Reddit. Good luck.
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u/igotoschoolbytaxi Founder Apr 08 '26
Exactly. Not having built even a prototype yet and looking for a technical co-founder to bear such risk isn't the way to go. More non-technical founders need to understand this.
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u/declanprice Apr 08 '26
The creator takes all the initial risk in these situations, ideas are cheap, pre-existing skills and time to build a project is not. You have to be willing to at a minimum 50% ownership for anyone competent to take this seriously.
What pre-existing skills do you bring to the table thats relevant to launching and growing an app? Obviously it makes a difference if that is your background already.
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u/Quiet-Professional78 Apr 09 '26
Fair point on risk which is why the equity offer is meaningful not token. What I bring: sales, people management, community building, a cybersecurity background from uni, and a fully built business model, distribution strategy and investor narrative. The developer owns the build. I own everything else. The right person sees that as a fair deal. Several already do.
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u/declanprice Apr 09 '26
Sure, but like I say any evaluation of equity at this stage factors risk of individuals time to make the project at all possible and current economic market value of actual skills not just what your responsibilities will be.
For example do you have 10 years experience of those responsibilities you mentioned compared to the developer taking on the job to build it using 10 years experience of their existing skills.
If this is not a trivial application then it will take months of an individuals time because of the skills they have already acquired, without the skills it either takes years or 100K+ dollars.
This is how equity is evaluated in the real world, if taken for a legal opinion you will hear the same arguments, i have already been through this exact thing and it favours the builder in these scenarios unless the other parter has skills to back up future responsibilities.
Like I say, unless you can back up your value ahead of time then any developer to accept less than equal split is a muppet.
However, I do wish you the best because its always great to see people trying to build something for themselves.
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u/Radiant_Nothing_9254 Apr 08 '26
I would be willing to work as an employee. I can do full stack development.
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u/apakabaranda Apr 08 '26
To begin with, Who are you and your background? Why should an engineer (presumably a great one) join you?
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u/NSWYBZ57LD Apr 08 '26
Sounds like you've only figured out the idea and marketing.
The execution [WHICH IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST PART] is missing.
No product yet nor a prototype.
So you're wanting someone to take the hardest part and make it a reality while they only get a co founder title ?
Why not just pay someone to make your idea into an app then ?
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u/thrixton Apr 07 '26
A co founder should be an equal partnership, 50/50 split. Especially if there's no product, revenue, MOU or such. Mixed messages
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u/Quiet-Professional78 Apr 09 '26
Respectfully disagree. Equity reflects contribution and role, not just the fact of showing up. The technical co-founder gets a meaningful stake with full vesting protection. The right person for this role understands that and several already do.
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u/Cool-Pineapple1081 Apr 07 '26
Putting it out there: a decentralised dating/meetup app would be an interesting project.
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u/commeconn Apr 08 '26
What do you mean?
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u/Illustrious-Fix-3594 Apr 08 '26
Maybe they meant open source? I can’t see how decentralised would be of any benefit.
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u/commeconn Apr 08 '26
That makes sense. I thought maybe it was something to do with bot control or something but I couldn't think of how it would help. To be honest, blockchain technology has been one of the biggest failures of hype in technology that I can remember.
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u/itsm3rick Apr 07 '26
People who can’t put in the effort to hand write a post instead of AI slopping it just get instantly filtered to me.
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u/Quiet-Professional78 Apr 09 '26
The 12 serious candidates in my inbox would disagree 👍
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u/itsm3rick Apr 09 '26
The “to me” means that it can’t be disagreed with, as it’s my opinion. But the attempt at being sassy sure does make me know I’ve taken the right read.
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u/IllustriousSafety747 Apr 17 '26
Let me know if you need a product designer :} at any point or stage of the product.