Co founders/entrepreneurs/partners wanted
I just created a new Google form to recruit business partners, following a conversation with my friend, business and squash partner Pawel Nowak. Will it work ? I don't know. Below is the introduction you will read if you click on it.. to read the questions as well, you need to go to the form itself
Feedback welcome
Co founders/entrepreneurs/partners for Richard Lucas
Why this form?I realised in February 2016 that I don't have a good co-founder recruitment process. I'm known as an angel investor, and entrepreneur. I don't often get people approaching me wanting to be a co-founder. I am ready to contribute time money experience and contacts to new ventures I am involved in, so this form is designed to encourage people who want to be my partner or co founder get in touch.
if you don't know who I am check me out here
https://www.richardlucas.com/about-2
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardhlucas
(if you are an Eddie Izzard fan take the opportunity to re-watch the Death Star Canteen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma3a7hqZer4
It is extremely difficult to profile a co-founder. If I look at the people I am in business with they vary tremendously. And as in attraction, love and relationships just because I might want to be in business with someone, doesn't mean that they will regard me as being a suitable partner.
You are likely to have at least some of the below characteristics.
• high levels of motivation and energy
• excellent/reasonable/acceptable interpersonal skills,
• creativity
• self confidence,flexibility, tolerance, open mindedness. I'm internationalist in outlook. Patriotism is fine, nationalism and intolerance absolutely not.
• a willingness to "get your hands dirty". To do work needed rather than just describe it.
• ability to communicate in English, other languages a plus.
• willingness to learn, to start solving a problem by spending an hour or two on Google before wanting to hire an expert.
• A willingness to try and take on new challenges.
• Generosity.
• High expectations of yourself and other people.
• Good communication skills
• Toughness -the ability to take hard decisions
• Curiosity about the way the world works
• Good at Time management, self organisation and getting things done
• intolerance of waste, interest in getting things done well as effeciently and quickly as possible
• Ambitious. a desire to build work on something great. it doesn't have to be a project with the scale of of Space X or Tesla (though why not?) but if we are doing a shoe repair business, let's aim to make it the best run, most efficient and profitable in Europe.
• Profit orientated. A business that is not aiming to make a higher rate of profit than the average, as much if not more than the best companies is not interesting. Being cheaper than the competition may be a strategy, if our costs are lower. but if we are better then we should be able to prove it by charging more. If you for example - want to start a bar, and you don't know how much bars like the one you want to set are making, you have not done you homework. The profitability of businesses can be found out, if you don't know how, ask me.
• be able to code, or manage developers. It doesn't mean that we won't pay for development, but a technical co founder can bring the ability to spend money wisely.
• common sense.
Money. It's great to know if you have got some savings. All too often the mind set of technology start up-ers is conditioned by years of grants and competitions. They want to rewards of their own business without ever experiencing the financial risk of failure. Of course someone who has 2 kids and 10,000 złoty in savings, is not in a position to put in significant amounts of cash, but on the other hand, to be in that position at all, shows they know how to manage their money. it's a plus. And I know they will work like crazy to succeed.Many of the successful entrepreneurs I know started with their savings, or money borrowed from friends or family who expected their investment to be spent carefully. Many ventures which started with "easy money" from me or others have ended up with the founder and me losing time and money. The ability to learn fast and think is more important than previous experience, People with motivation and commitment tend to pick up experience as they go through life. If you have no experience of anything what have you been doing between the age of 3 and now?