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Where Are All The Web Entrepreneurs?

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  • 15-08-2010 7:51pm
    #1
    offtherails
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭


    Where can you find freelance web developers? Dev partners interested in working on new projects. I know there are entrepreneurial guys out there trapped in day jobs but are there any freelance or independent guys or girls that actually have time to commit?


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    #2
    Budget Marketing
    Closed Accounts Posts: 66 ✭✭Budget Marketing


    Hi offtherails,

    I would suggest that you employ the services of a college goer or someone whom has just graduated with a comp sci degree and is finding it difficult to get work. They will have plenty of time to lend. Plenty of freelancers out there also at the moment last time i looked!

    Can i ask you out of interesr what sort/scale of projects you have in mind?

    rob@budgetmarketing.ie


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    #3
    J_Wholesale
    Closed Accounts Posts: 245 ✭✭J_Wholesale


    offtherails wrote: »
    ... freelance or independent guys or girls that actually have time to commit?

    Sounds like you're looking for the unsuccessful ones, who have nothing to do and no projects under development. Are you offering money, or the usual: "code my website for free, and I'll give you x% of the vast profits that are sure to come."


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    #4
    offtherails
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭offtherails


    J_Wholesale wrote: »
    Sounds like you're looking for the unsuccessful ones, who have nothing to do and no projects under development. Are you offering money, or the usual: "code my website for free, and I'll give you x% of the vast profits that are sure to come."

    I'm looking for a risk taker J-Wholesale I've considered outsourcing...I have done in the past and may well do again but I'd prefer to bring in a partner. Clearly there are lots of developers out there I can employ but I'd like to meet someone with a little fire in their belly! I understand that's not going to appeal to 99% of developers....I guess I'm looking for that 1%


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    #5
    Axwell
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 10,461 Mod ✭✭✭✭Axwell


    offtherails wrote: »
    I'm looking for a risk taker J-Wholesale I've considered outsourcing...I have done in the past and may well do again but I'd prefer to bring in a partner. Clearly there are lots of developers out there I can employ but I'd like to meet someone with a little fire in their belly! I understand that's not going to appeal to 99% of developers....I guess I'm looking for that 1%

    You are looking for someone to take a risk, I dont think anyone is going to jump in blindly without some hope of making profit out of the idea. If its a serious business idea then looking at college goers is a terrible idea. What do you bring to the table? Have you a specific idea in mind with a business plan and a site design laid out that you just need developed or is this just the beginnings of an idea that hasnt been put down on paper yet?


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    #6
    Evil Phil
    Registered Users Posts: 7,468 ✭✭✭Evil Phil


    There are various networking oppurtunities. In Dublin for instance the Digital Hub used to run one, dunno if they still do. The various enterprise boards also run networking events - could be a good place to start. Or you could contact the Incubation organisations around the country to see if they can help.


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    #7
    tomED
    Registered Users Posts: 1,452 ✭✭✭tomED


    Web developers get asked this all the time. Even a company like ours doesn't go more than a couple of weeks without someone looking for a "partnership".

    The problem is, that it's not a partnership at all. The work involved to bring a real web project to fruition, takes time. So in the end it turns out that the developer is putting more investment into the project than the person that approached them in the first place.

    If you are looking are really looking for a web partner, why not offer some money to the developer to get it done and then the partnership can grow by both of you utilising each others skills.

    You'll find a lot of web developers are probably still open to partnering with people who are realistic. Those that are realistic, don't expect to get something without investment of some sort.


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    #8
    fergalfrog
    Registered Users Posts: 352 ✭✭fergalfrog


    Just to add to the well made points by tomED, you won't get someone with 'fire in their belly' who doesn't know anything about the project. Before you can get excited by something you need to know of it's potential.

    As with tomED it has been my experience that people over-value their business idea. A good business idea does not necessarily mean a developer has to first put in 1000 hours programming to catch up so that you and the developer have an equal stake moving forward.

    There are lots of entreprenuer developers out there and the networking events are the place to find some. There is a bizcamp coming up in Galway for example and I know a lot of web developers are going to that.

    There are also lots of freelancers - freelanceireland.ie might be a good place to start browsing through the skillsets you are looking for. (note I have no affiliation to bizcamp or freelanceireland)


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    #9
    offtherails
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭offtherails


    tomED wrote: »
    Web developers get asked this all the time. Even a company like ours doesn't go more than a couple of weeks without someone looking for a "partnership".

    I'm sure they do. As do I and occasionally a project interests me enough to get involved. If you actually read my post you'll have noticed that I have no problem outsourcing the development....I would however prefer to bring in a development partner.
    tomED wrote: »
    The problem is, that it's not a partnership at all. The work involved to bring a real web project to fruition, takes time. So in the end it turns out that the developer is putting more investment into the project than the person that approached them in the first place.

    Absolutely, the work involved does take time....which is why I started the thread looking for a freelancer who is interested in partnering in the right project and can commit time. Designing a website takes time and certain skill, as does developing and selling the end product. In my experience, these are all crucial ingredients and neither is mutually exclusive.
    tomED wrote: »
    If you are looking are really looking for a web partner, why not offer some money to the developer to get it done

    I've already answered this!
    tomED wrote: »
    You'll find a lot of web developers are probably still open to partnering with people who are realistic. Those that are realistic, don't expect to get something without investment of some sort.

    I'm not here to waste anyones time. An investment in any partnership requires some element of risk. With the adequate research and a solid business plan the risk becomes a calculated risk. In any case there is still some risk involved. Maybe I'm in the wrong forum but I figured the 'entrepreneurial & business management' forum was worth a shot.

    Cheers to Evil Phil and Fergal Frog for your advice.


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    #10
    hobochris
    Registered Users Posts: 2,164 ✭✭✭hobochris


    The developers you are seeking("with fire in their belly") are probably busy with their own projects.

    TBH, knowing the type of effort that would have to go into something like this(a hell of a a lot more effort then the non developer would think), as a developer, Unless it was clearly an absolutely brilliant Idea that I could see as becoming very profitable, I would not touch it with a barge pole.

    A majority of projects like this become a black hole for your free time with very little reward to show for it.


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    #11
    offtherails
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭offtherails


    fergalfrog wrote: »
    you won't get someone with 'fire in their belly' who doesn't know anything about the project. Before you can get excited by something you need to know of it's potential.

    Sure, that's natural. I'm just looking for developers open to potential collaborations. Anyone who is can PM me to talk in more detail.[/I]
    fergalfrog wrote: »
    There are lots of entreprenuer developers out there and the networking events are the place to find some. There is a bizcamp coming up in Galway for example and I know a lot of web developers are going to that.

    Cheers, I'll look into this.


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    #12
    tomED
    Registered Users Posts: 1,452 ✭✭✭tomED


    offtherails wrote: »


    I'm sure they do. As do I and occasionally a project interests me enough to get involved. If you actually read my post you'll have noticed that I have no problem outsourcing the development....I would however prefer to bring in a development partner.

    I did read your post, and you said "I've considered outsourcing...I have done in the past and may well do again but I'd prefer to bring in a partner". Which to me clearly states that you are not interested in paying someone to do the work at the moment and are looking for someone to do the work for free.

    Which is fine by me by the way! :) I was really just trying to point out that "patnerships" like this, generally aren't ever partnerships as the developer usually ends up doing most of the work. It's a massive investment by the developer and generally more than the other party involved. So in essence the developer has more to lose.

    Hence my suggestion for offering money to the developer initially - if the developer sees this investment, they are more likely to be interested in staying the course.

    offtherails wrote: »
    Designing a website takes time and certain skill, as does developing and selling the end product. In my experience, these are all crucial ingredients and neither is mutually exclusive.

    Well that really depends on the project doesn't it and I'm sure your "partner" will want to have an input into what the "end product" actually is?

    offtherails wrote: »
    [I'm not here to waste anyones time. An investment in any partnership requires some element of risk. With the adequate research and a solid business plan the risk becomes a calculated risk. In any case there is still some risk involved. Maybe I'm in the wrong forum but I figured the 'entrepreneurial & business management' forum was worth a shot.[/I]

    Please don't take me up the wrong way - I'm not in anyway knocking what you are trying to do.

    I guess I'm on the defense of web developers - with a title like "Where are all the web entreprenuers" it's like none of us exist anymore, when in fact we do - but we've been down the road of building other people's dreams like this before. We've put in the hard labour only to see that when the site is live, the other party isn't interested in making it work.

    I call it the "build it and they will come" syndrome and a lot of people with "great web ideas" seem to have it. All enthusiastic about building a web site only to lose interest when they see the site is only averaging 30 visits a day. Then, when they've done nothing more than come up with an idea, refuse to spend any money advertising their product.

    As I said, I'm sure you'll find someone. Someone with enough experience to help you make it work? Unlikely in my opinion.


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    #13
    Pixelcraft
    Registered Users Posts: 742 ✭✭✭Pixelcraft


    Couple of points, firstly people here (in no small part to the economic situation imo) are now finally realising the power of the web if done correctly, so most good designers & developers are actually quite busy with projects - they don't need to take that risk.

    Secondly, a partnership requires trust, and while you will most likely have a portfolio/cv to look through for the proposed partner, they have nothing in return. They have no idea how successful you are at the business side of things. You could hire the best developer in the world doing the best work they've ever done and it could still be a failure down to your skills (not saying it will or won't be) but that's the risk involved.


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    #14
    Axwell
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 10,461 Mod ✭✭✭✭Axwell


    Asked above but you never answered, but what do you bring to the table?


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    #15
    offtherails
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭offtherails


    Axwell wrote: »
    Asked above but you never answered, but what do you bring to the table?

    5-6 years design and marketing experience where I created both global and domestic campaigns for some of the largest FMCG players in the market. I've also been behind the launch of a few small businesses while working agency side. I now work freelance so I can focus on more interesting projects and am partner in a few start-ups as designer.

    Cheers for the comments guys. While I may not agree with them all..I do value them nonetheless. Thanks also to those who PM'd me with interest.


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    #16
    StupidLikeAFox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,698 ✭✭✭StupidLikeAFox


    What exactly is the nature of the product/idea anyway?


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    #17
    Trojan
    Registered Users Posts: 16,402 ✭✭✭✭Trojan


    I was in the opposite position to the OP a couple of years back, I was a dev/techie looking for opportunities and projects to work on. If you network a lot they tend to turn up often. I gave a talk at one particular business event and ended up as technical advisor on 2 startups just from giving that one talk which was very cool :)

    Lately I've been avoiding networking meetings because I've got my head down working on a couple of joint ventures and on my own stuff - when I go to networking I get too many of these kinds of offers all the time.

    Some of them are quite attractive, and as I mentioned, I've said yes to several, but often times the offer is a variant of "I have this great idea, you do all the work and I'll give you [X]% equity" to which I normally answer "Thanks, but I do sometimes have great ideas myself, of which I give myself 100% equity" :)

    Alan Weiss has a rule of thumb in one of his books - he won't collaborate on projects where 1+1=2, only when 1+1=64; i.e. where there's an exponential return on invested time/money. The principle is a good one to follow.

    Back to the OPs question, there are people out there on both sides - business people with the business and marketing skills, and developers/designers with the technical skills (and often times more business skills than you might imagine). Go to networking events: the Open Coffees, Biz- and Bar-camps in particular tend to attract a certain entrepreneurial-developer hybrid. Also don't rule out a good part-time freelancer who has a full-time job on the side, if the project is good enough they'll be tempted.

    🎙️ The Recognized Authority Podcast



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