What happened to having an idea and someone hearing this idea and saying I would like to partner up?

What happened is selection bias and post event story making.

It takes an ENORMOUS amount of work to go from an idea to a company that's in the black and producing.   In addition to the idea, there are lots of stars that have to align in order to make that idea a successful reality (funding, team, development, sales, support, etc...)  And, though the idea is critical it is very much over-rated, lots of folks believe that the idea is sufficient to the success of an endeavor, and that the implementation and execution are just details (which obviously couldn't be farther from the truth, the execution IS the thing, the idea merely the spark that starts what you hope will be a fire).

Anyone who's been down this road before and realizes the commitment that's required will be rightfully cautious about vetting the opportunity before jumping in.   Likely they have other options already and have to weigh your against the others.   It's sort of like getting married and posting an add looking for a spouse with a short description of yourself and then expecting someone to say "I do" in response.  You may find someone willing, but is that really the person you want?

A great source of co-founders if you're just starting out is folks you work with or have interacted with in your space.  These are folks that will understand your idea, know the market and will be able to buy into the concept.  Also, you'll have some history with them and ideally a good working relationship (some work chemistry) and you'll have a sense of their expertise and they of yours. 

Dave.

Mr. Stein: We are in the same business and I say to you "amen".

I don't think anyone is rushing out to copy your early stage idea, so a patent would almost certainly be overkill at this stage. Copying realistically happens in the late stages, once you've already proved that it has legs and others are noticing your success and looking to get into your space.

David: You are correct. It was never true that a good idea would attract good advisers or funding. It takes money to attract either. But I hesitate to say so because they will throw me off this forum. I have been an adviser to dozens of start-ups over the years.  A few questions is one thing, but if you want my advice on a continuing basis, I charge. I know that my advice has value. If you don't think so, don't ask for it. For a generation, many people starting a new business went to the SBA. The SBA requires collateral, usually the family home. It is a proven model. If you have a $300 phone and a $1000 laptop, but will not pay $1000 for a business plan written by someone who actually knows what they are doing, don't bother, you don't get it. 

Reasons why you're not getting traction with partners:

Thank you Mr. Jay for saying what no one wants to hear. There is no free lunch. I know that this will be an unpopular answer but getting the right person to help you make your company a success and getting a person who will work for equity are not always the same. There is a reason that the best programmers make a lot of money. Equity in any start-up usually has no value and will never pay off. When I was younger I had a drawer full of stock certificates that I accepted from dozens of companies in lieu of payment for my services. Not one ever paid off. Every start-up starts with your sweat and someone elses' money, usually friends and family who believe in you and what you are doing. The money is used to pay for the services that you need but cannot do yourself. Up to a point, I give advice to start-ups and entrepreneurs for free. After that point, or if they need real legal work or extended advice, I charge. I am sure that some other lawyers will accept equity, but I know a lot of lawyers and most of the good ones will not.

Cory

Your thread 'what happened to ... '  OK, I'm not a funder etc. BUT I may be able to help on the tech side.  I am a tech person with 'free time' on my hands and would be happy to 'get involved' even it's it's just to 'get you going'.

My rationale is that you may also be able to help me with a something  not now, may be not at all, but also may be sometime in the future.

May not be any harm in talking?

You can contact me at parrott.russell at gmail.com (not sure if email addresses are allowed)

Have a great day/weekend and hope to hear from you.

Russell Parrott

Cory,

I’ve been frustrated by the same issue in the past. What I learned over the course of sharing my idea with many people is that it needed to transition from abstraction into something visible. What I mean by that is there are multiple ways to make an idea intelligible to others so they grasp it beyond whatever words you use to articulate it over coffee. I recommend you do the following, if you haven’t already:

1. Create a slide-deck (5 to 10 slides) that provides a simple story in visual form for how customers are going to engage your product. You have to be your own creative advertiser and piece together whatever you can to spark that “oh, I see” reaction in potential co-founders.

2. If your idea is software related, creating simple wire-frames and UI goes a LONG, LONG way. You can do this using PowerPoint, Google Slides, or a prototyping service such as proto.io or prototyping on paper. Exhibiting the step-by-step UI process shows a potential co-founder the logic behind your thought process and also makes your idea a little more “real”.

3. Fill out various business-plan templates such as the Business Model Canvas, a Value Proposition Canvas, a SWOT analysis, etc. and show them to the people with whom you are interested in collaborating. Even if you can’t complete every field, doing what you can shows that you are filtering your idea through various strategies.

When you go through each of these processes, you will likely find that your idea can change a little here, a little there. That’s what visualization does, it gives your idea clarity, not just for others, but for yourself as well. In short, people need to SEE your idea, not just HEAR it.

Believe me, I understand your frustration. I’ve come to find that ideas are grossly generalized across entrepreneurial discourse as evanescent flashes of thought. They’re treated like balloons awaiting the pragmatic pin prick of those who’ve undergone the rigors of execution. The problem is that this outlook has gone from personal experiences (entirely justifiable with respect to actual cases) to impersonal ideology. In turn, some people indiscriminately adopt a haughty and assuming stance to an idea unless they see you’ve rounded up a few collaborators capable of executing it. This can be such a wasted opportunity for them, but for you, you shouldn’t want to work with these types in the first place; some of them want to piggy-back under the guise of being “risk-averse”. 

As a developer who has worked for a dozen startups mostly for free and has made money on a few of them I see it this way.

When someone comes to me with an idea and only needs my help to create the product and all the support system (Mobile app, server, systems operations) its pretty simple, they normally offer me 5 to 10 percent. This is fantastic. I always pass on this since it probably will fail anyway.

If they are more aware of the value of my time then they offer me 50% which would then mean it's a partnership. This is interesting enough for me to find out more about the project, maybe create a design and prototype and possibly an MVP.

I need to be as excited as you are about the project otherwise my interest will fade and you will be pissed so you have to sell me on the idea.

For me to work with a first time founder who has no track record who offers me 10% is a slap in my face, I have a proven track record and have examples of my work. I have tax statements that show a solid income for over 10 years in development. If a founder can show me where they  have successfully created a company and sold it for a ton of money then we can talk for 10% otherwise it has to be worth my time and interest.

Yes I get dozens of emails every month, lots of connects from Angel List, some people from ether countries as well not just the USA. I'm always willing to listen but not willing to sign an NDA just to hear an idea. If its that fragile then I'm not interested anyway.

I've been spending lots of time training people, I have some Udemy classes and provide a startup weekend training to kick start mobile app development, once people get involved in the technical details they can decide if they can do it themselves (some can, some can't) or need help but if they go thru some sample project they will have a better understanding of what is needed and be less suceptable to getting scammed I hope.

In my opinion you need a team for a company or project and a team consist of more then one person.

To create a team you need trust and respect, treat everyone as equals unless there is some financial difference there (one is the investor).

Anyway, that's my 2 cents

thomasjay200 at gmail dot com