Co-founder Application

This is partially for LOLz and partially for serious. I’m a guy in Tampa looking for people that want to kick ass with me. I know some very talented individuals in the area but nothing’s really gotten off the ground with them. Most of that is because they have day jobs and can’t make the time or can’t get their focus going. So without further ado, my job posting for a co-founder:

Entrepreneur seeks co-founders in Tampa, FL (No relocation / Local candidates only)

I am seeking two or three qualified individuals to join me as co-founders for a yet to be determined venture. I have many ideas but we can use one of yours as long as everyone on the team is super excited about it. Coming up with an idea is going to be the easy part, execution is what really matters. “Push early, fail often.” “Ship or die.” “Move fast and break stuff.” And any other cliché quotes you can think of are great, but are you up for the challenge of living them?

About Me:

For the last year I have been working for myself building social networks. After a year of working alone and no forward momentum on a few projects with others, I have come to realize that this man can no longer be an island and I need to find the right people to work with. Aside from some stints in Corporate America, I have also been a single digit employee at two Tampa startups. One company is still thriving today and the other sold for 7 figures last year. I love technology, I live on the command line, I debug in my dreams and I love contributing to open source projects and pushing code.

Tools I Like:

  • PHP, yes PHP, as of late 5.5.x because 5.3 is tired
  • The PICKLES framework, because I know the author
  • MySQL, because I still find PostgreSQL to be a pain
  • Memcached, because the fastest database queries are the ones you don’t run
  • Redis, because OMFG REDIS!!?!
  • nginx, because it’s bad like the PowerGlove
  • jQuery, because I have no room for boutique libraries in my stack
  • Ubuntu Linux, even though I think Unity is junk
  • vim, because in another time and place it would have been called prophet

About You:

You’re a humble code monkey, designer and/or growth hacker. The ability to wear multiple hats is a very sexy attribute and you have it.

You’re a developer

Your favorite thing in the world is to create. You always have at least one side project. When you’re not coding, you’re probably coding. You love writing unit tests but you love solving problems even more.

You’re a designer

You have an eye for modern design but don’t mind being a trail blazer. You can take criticism as well as give it. UX isn’t your skill, it’s your passion. You are comfortable with Photoshop but can sling markup with the best of them.

You’re a growth hacker

You have the experience to back up your claim. You’re humble, because everyone hates cocky marketers. You trust your gut but are also willing to analyze metrics and make educated decisions.

You will be successful in this role if you:

  • Enjoy building tools that you would want to use
  • Are a self-starter that can be autonomous and self-motivated
  • Get inspired and can inspire others around you
  • Like beer, wine and/or dark spirits
  • Play an instrument, singing doesn’t count

Benefits:

Simply put, there are none at this time. You will be required to generate your own income until we figure this all out. Equity can be split equally or based on time commitments once a team has been assembled. If all goes well we’ll been doling out competitive salaries, gym memberships and generous healthcare packages when the time is right. If you’re approaching this with dollar signs in your eyes or looking for some stuffy C-level title, save yourself some time and don’t apply.

Next Steps:

An ideal candidate will likely be a freelancer that sets their own schedule. You must be willing to meet semi-regularly because some of the best collaboration happens in person, and usually after a few beers ;). As much as I believe that you shouldn’t limit your searches to a single market, I would like to find people that are local to the Tampa Bay area. I have office space in Ybor City on 7th Avenue with a big whiteboard for us to huddle around.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, feel free to email me at joshtronic+cofounder@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter: @joshtronic. Links to what you’ve done are better than words about it. Cover letter optional.

Wantrepreneurs and Microsoft Windows users need not apply.

Josh Sherman - The Man, The Myth, The Avatar

About Josh

Husband. Father. Pug dad. Musician. Founder of Holiday API, Head of Engineering and Emoji Specialist at Mailshake, and author of the best damn Lorem Ipsum Library for PHP.


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