Looking for a software and web developer

daithi12

Hi all.

Im looking for a developer to set up a project with.
I have the idea and the contacts but its just to get the website built and also an app(maybe down the road a bit)
It would be similar to a social network but more concentrated on sport.
As far as i have searched this doesn't exist all ready on the net.

The website would help people get involved in different things and also help businesses.

Im in Galway city so if your in the area and interested in getting involved in a Challenging project, let me know.

It has potential to grow into a business when its up and running but its to get it that far is the problem.

Stamply

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056731704

I've been where you are right now, I promise. Trust me, learn to code or design or else forget it.

The Corinthian

Stamply wrote: »

I've been where you are right now, I promise. Trust me, learn to code or design or else forget it.

I disagree. If all you have is an 'idea', then you're probably right as you're going to have an uphill struggle convincing any developer to come in with you, often with no pay and a minority share, when they're actually bringing more to the venture than you are.

If you can bring a solid business plan, market research and knowledge, contacts or capital to the table, and be realistic about percentages, then your chances of getting business partners - be they developers or otherwise - becomes a lot larger.

Colonel Panic

True, but when developers see "I have the idea and the contacts but its just to get the website built" the bit flips. I always laugh when people tell me, over pints, about their app ideas when they hear I'm a programmer and assume it won't take long because it's simple.

You need more than an idea and I don't mean business contacts. You need a functional specification.

The Corinthian

Colonel Panic wrote: »

You need more than an idea and I don't mean business contacts. You need a functional specification.

If they can write a functional specification, chances are they don't need a developer, as functional specifications are the product of both the business and technical sides of an enterprise.

Where I'd agree is that often such 'ideas' don't have a business plan worth toilet paper, let alone a functional specification. Doing some research and analysis on whether people really will buy your 'widget' is something that many don't bother because they're already convinced.

If you have a venture you want to start and you need resources to help you bring it to life, you can either pay for them or make them partners (or a mixture of both).

Offering equity in a venture to anyone means that the person you're selling to is doing a risk-benefit analysis; how likely is it that the venture will succeed and what is it likely to make in the short, medium or long term? What is the value of what the person with the idea worth in a best-case scenario? In a more realistic scenario? What are they bringing to the venture, compared to you or that will make success more likely?

I saw an excellent idea fail a few years back because the principle didn't actually bother to do any research. They had both a business plan (with projected sales) and a functional requirements document - but only because they needed them to raise VC and the former was backed up by zero research (voodoo analysis) and the latter ended up being used as the functional specification. The result was a disaster; development was a mess as there was no real functional specification and ended up costing ten times the original budget and when it was up and running, it turned out that the business presumptions upon which the revenue model relied upon were wrong.

A lot of the 'principles' of such ventures get so caught up in the 'idea' that they tend to lose perspective on all this. They've convinced they've got the best thing since sliced bread, but even if they do, they overestimate whether they've capable of making it a success or their own value in the venture.

So, that's why I'd disagree with Stamply; the solution to needing a business partner is not to bypass that need by acquiring the skills yourself, but to make your business idea attractive to any potential business parter - because, in the end, it will also increase the chances of your idea succeeding also.

Colonel Panic

Point taken about the functional specification, that is something that a developer needs to work out with client, but I still think that there still needs to be something more than an idea and a business plan probably fits the bill there.