New Orleans’ Neighborland

I met Dan Parham and Candy Chang last summer at Launch Pad.  It is a familiar scenario for me, Dan had emailed me and asked me if he could come by and tell me about his startup, Neighborland that they were launching in New Orleans.  I was excited about the potential real world impact that Neighborland would be able to have in New Orleans.  New Orleans has incredibly engaged citizens who care about this city and care about their neighborhoods.

So, I invited Dan to speak at TribeCon, our conference about online communities creating offline change.  I could sense the audience being moved by the way Neighborland empowers people to take action on the issues that matter to them.

A few weeks ago, I decided to try it out myself.

I am passionate about the importance of Tulane bringing its CS Department back online so we are graduating talented engineers in New Orleans and building a pipeline of talent.  I posted the idea on Neighborland.  This activated a conversation around the topic that struck me with the intelligence and civility of the discourse and most importantly the desire of people to take action.  It spurred a piece in the local press as well as a meeting with Ram Mettu, a faculty member at Tulane which is spurring some exciting developments that we are hoping to announce at Launch Fest.

Today I’m thrilled to announce that Voodoo Ventures is investing in Neighborland alongside an amazing group of co-investors including The Obvious Corporation, True Ventures, Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, and Crunch Fund. My central thesis with Voodoo Ventures is to “play where web meets world” and Neighborland has the potential for tremendous real-world impact.

Last year at Launch Fest, I focused on the importance of local angels in New Orleans to get engaged in New Orleans startups because we can catalyze deals that result in investment by top-tier VC’s. This deal is evidence that strategy works.  Now we’ve all got to keep cranking.

Let’s connect on the issues that matter to us and take action on Neighborland. Together we can make our neighborhood, New Orleans, and the world a better place.

How to find a technical co-founder

I frequently get emails that say something like:

I have an idea for a product that I want to build, and I need to hire a web developer or find a technical co-founder. Where should I start?

I’m going to try to give helpful guidance that I give to people who approach me with this.  First, I want to give personal context.  I am a mechanical engineer and a partner in a software development company, but not a programmer.  I am much more of a hustler than a hacker.  So, I do understand when people need to find and depend on someone else to build out their vision.

Step 1 – Check Your Ego

Step 2 – Get Perspective

  • You are asking for help. Whether you are looking for a co-founder or a consulting firm to build your product, you can’t do it without them.  And you need them more than they need you.  Any engineer you want already has a job, so you’ll need to be persuasive.
  • What value do you bring? The technical co-founder perspective may be – “what do I need you for?” Know what value you bring and communicate it.  Be the hustler to their hacker.

Step 3 – Get Out There

  • Go to tech meetups. You’re unlikely to find a co-founder on a job board.  You raise your chance of success monumentally if you start attending meetups and meeting programmers in person.  Here are the NOLA meetups.
  • Go online. Learn how to approach the conversation by reviewing these resources on Quora and searching the web.
  • Go co-work. I gauge how serious people are by inviting them to work at Launch Pad and meet people.  (If you don’t take me up on free co-working and introductions at Launch Pad, then you’re not committed.)
  • Go to conferences. Get out of town, go to SXSW, TechCrunch Disrupt, RubyConf.

Step 4 – Value Your Need

  • Reward risk – for a co-founder, even after you get them to buy into your vision, you’re going to have to come up with a compelling equity/cash compensation package.  Remember, they are evaluating their opportunity cost.
  • Have a budget – if you’re not looking for a co-founder, but you want to talk to a development firm, then you need to know your budget.  If you’re not prepared to spend 20k+, then you probably need to re-evaluate.

Alternative Approach – Learn to code yourself.

If I sent you a link to this post in response to your email, I hope this is a good starting point for you. Good luck.  Have feedback or other resources? Please share in the comments.

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