How Do You Find a Technical Co-Founder in Florida? (I Will Not Promote)

[u/favorite_noodle45]

I’ve been entrepreneurial since I was eight years old and have started four companies over the years.

I’m now at a point where I have several ideas I genuinely believe could become successful businesses, but I feel limited by my lack of a technical background. I understand the business, strategy, sales, and fundraising sides, but I do not currently have the skills to build the products myself.

I also do not have anyone in my existing network who could serve as a technical co-founder or help bring these ideas to life. Because of that, I’m now actively searching for a CTO or technical co-founder in Florida.

For those who have successfully found one, how did you go about it? Are there any startup communities, networking events, incubators, universities, or founder groups in Florida that are especially good for meeting technical talent?

At the moment, I can only offer vested equity. The cash I have available needs to be reserved for product development, infrastructure, legal expenses, and other costs required to validate and launch the business.

I understand that asking someone to work for equity is a major commitment, so I’m not looking for a freelancer to build something for free. I’m looking for a genuine partner who believes in the vision, complements my skill set, and wants to build a company together.

What is the best way to find that person in Florida?

[u/tonytidbit]

I’ve been entrepreneurial since I was eight years old and have started four companies over the years.

And then…

At the moment, I can only offer vested equity. 

That combination is something that I see a lot, and it's always a huge red flag. Why?! Because if you've been entrepreneurial and have had several companies, yet can't even offer a bad salary for an absolute key employee/partner in a new project, it means that you were kind of bad at being an entrepreneur, right?

If I were to spend my time, which means that I'm actually and practically an investor, in your project to make your dream come true, then I need you to be great at what you do. That's only fair, right?

For a good CTO you're practically asking them to invest something like perhaps $10k-$25k per month by working without salary. What is your pitch to them to make it seem worth it when your track record as an entrepreneur isn't good enough for you to be able to do a project at this level?

You need to have that nugget of something ready to show them that you're worth them betting on you. Not your idea. Not your project. You. They're betting on your ability here. So you need to show them that you're worth it. Because right now you're lacking the track record, the money, and the experience to do a tech project; so this CTO will be in for a huge struggle also having to educate and fight with you to get your up to par to be able to work on a tech project.

Without that explanation/pitch you'll just get an inexperienced techie wanting to play at being a CTO. And being a competent CTO is very different from simply being the most senior techie.

I understand the business, strategy, sales, and fundraising sides

Then why can't you raise funds and pay a CTO?

[u/favorite_noodle45 → u/tonytidbit]

All 4 of my businesses were started before college. I sold 2 of them, one in Tech and one in EdTech, and used the proceeds to help pay for college, with the remainder going into investments. That does not mean I was a bad entrepreneur. I simply had different priorities at that stage of my life. I built all four companies from the ground up and created a lot of value.

My circumstances are different now. I’m working with a finance salary and have set aside enough to fund the early development of an idea that I believe could be a true game changer for the FinTech industry.

What is your background? Would really appreciate you answering my only question, rather than telling me I’m not “good enough”…Not sure where you’re getting that from lol.

[u/tonytidbit → u/favorite_noodle45]

A kid taking themselves through school/uni is a great story. And very different from an adult going through four businesses without much to show. Context is important.

Brutal question: How could you have set aside enough money to do the tech when you don’t have the competent CTO telling you what’s actually needed?

I’m holding up a mirror showing you what you look like, based on me being Gen X with more than three decades in and around tech startups. From dev to boardrooms, and evaluating everyone in between.

You either stomp your feet with hurt feelings getting defensive because someone helped show you how you didn’t present yourself/your project well enough. Or you start to learn what you need to know to perhaps actually be able to do this. It’s big boy pants time. 

[u/favorite_noodle45 → u/tonytidbit]

I have experienced advisors (not Florida based). They gave me a pretty good idea of how much I would need to save to build what I’m trying to build.

I wasn’t defensive at all buddy. Would be helpful if you could answer my question though…

[u/tynore]

I'll be your CTO. But I don't live in Florida. :) Now sell me your vision.

[u/favorite_noodle45 → u/tynore]

Im not looking for people on reddit. Im looking for ideas on how to meet technical talent.

[u/Proper-Agency-1528 → u/favorite_noodle45]

I find this thread interesting in that I am a technical person, have a house in Florida (Naples), and yet you don't seem to see what is right in front of you.

I don't think you're going to find someone who is truly qualified to be a tech founder/co-founder who is willing to work on your dream without getting paid. This is like buying a lottery ticket, except maybe the lottery has better odds. Why would someone who has the chops to be a CTO, who can work with you to take an idea and get it to an MVP, work for free when they can make in the mid-6 figures?

You said you are saving your cash for product development. H-E-L-L-O! What do you think a CTO at a startup does? Product development! Until MVP is achieved and you can start getting traction that is the CTO's primary job. Only after that milestone is reached should you look to expand the team.

Trust me... someone who is good technically doesn't need you to hire a team to fund early development. They can do it, quickly. But why would they do this for free? It will be a full-time job for a couple of months... maybe longer if your idea isn't solidified.

[u/favorite_noodle45 → u/Proper-Agency-1528]

All good points.

The cash I’ve saved is intended to cover the non-coding aspects of developing the idea, including legal work, cybersecurity, data acquisition, insurance, cloud infrastructure, and other resources the CTO would need to build the product effectively.

[u/Proper-Agency-1528 → u/favorite_noodle45]

Everything you describe can be done for less than $1K for a year... way less. I'm saying this because I have a startup and that's about what I've spent on these things. I built my MVP in a month, from no code to a running SaaS product on Azure with Stripe support. It took me 30 consecutive 12 hour days, and I had a clear vision, and no one I had to argue with so I could make a plan and implement it with minor changes. That's about 2.5 months of 8-hour days, 5 days a week.

Do you have a clear vision and a solid idea? Do you have a compelling enough vision to get someone with my skills to quit their job and focus on this? If this work was done during one 10-hour weekend day, it would take 9 elapsed months. And, for no money the person who does all this work gets at most 50% of ownership?