FounderDating: Find the Co-Founder of Your Dreams

When I first heart of FounderDating, I thought what most people think, “A dating site for entrepreneurs?” But it turns out, that’s a common misconception.

FounderDating is an online network for entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs to connect with potential co-founders. If you’re a developer with a great idea but no knack for business, FounderDating hopes you’ll use their site to find your perfect co-founder match.

I spoke with Jessica Alter, the founder and “Chief Connector” of FounderDating, yesterday about concept. She said the site aims to connect co-founders with similar cultural beliefs and complementary skill sets.

She also noted that by design, 50% of the people on the site are engineers. The other 50% is made up of designers, marketing gurus, business folk, and various other entrepreneur-types.

The site also prides itself on the high quality of its members. Each application is individually screened for quality and “readiness.” The identities of members are kept confidential (to protect those who still have jobs), but FounderDating has done due diligence and listed on the site early employees of  Stackmob, Snapfish, Zynga, and Gilt, to name a few.

For about two years, FounderDating has been growing in its home cities of San Francisco and Seattle. Recently, the team announced they would be gradually “unlocking” other cities.

The site is now unlocked and available in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston, Austin, and surprisingly enough, the Norfolk, Virginia area. Portland, Oregon was unlocked just this week, and Toronto and D.C. are making quick progress.

So my question to you is, are we going to let our bustling local start-up scene be outdone by the likes of Norfolk, Virginia?

Chris Schultz, co-founder of Launch Pad and Launch Pad Ignition and mentor/investor to many local start-ups has blogged on the woes of finding a co-founder and on how to be an awesome co-founder.

Chris reflected recently, “Launching a startup as a single founders is just adding more risk to an already extremely risky venture.  With Launch Pad Ignition for the last two years, we’ve seen lone wolf founders struggle to get everything done on the business and technical sides. Going it alone is not impossible, but you increase your chance for success  by finding a committed co-founder.”

On the role FounderDating can play in boosting the local start-up culture, he said, “Finding a co-founder can be hard, these are relationships that take time to develop, and you really have to understand skill sets and drive. Anything that helps facilitate being able to find a co-founder in a structured way will increase startups chances of success.”

To be clear, FounderDating is NOT:

  • Dating for entrepreneurs.
  • A meetup/event itself or event planning site.
  • Only for first-time entrepreneurs. A large percentage of those on the network are repeat entrepreneurs.

If you think you could be a great co-founder, whether or not you have an idea or experience, sign up now to unlock FounderDating locally. Don’t forget to spread the word with other great would-be entrepreneurs!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP