This is absolutely true. I'm the technical co-founder of Endcrawl, and there's just no way I could have pulled this off without the deep industry connections & insight of my co-founder Pliny. First off, the idea never would have occurred to me -- who knew this underserved niche market even existed? I mean end credits...really?
It goes beyond just identifying the opportunity though. The way we run Endcrawl is heavily influenced by Pliny's experience running OFFHOLLYWOOD, a post-production facility that mostly served indie filmmakers. Left to my own devices, would I have nailed pricing (flat fee, no room for bargaining) and customer support (email-only but responsive) like we have? Doubt it.
Hackers take note: non-technical co-founders CAN bring a ton of value to a partnership.
Or: if you're going solo, make sure you really understand your customers and your industry.
I love your humble attitude on the reality of things.
I've been trying quite a few projects targeted outside of my network and relationship building is something that gets missed. And now as I'm working on an analytics tool where people do know me and my expertise in that domain, it is much easier to convince.
It goes beyond just identifying the opportunity though. The way we run Endcrawl is heavily influenced by Pliny's experience running OFFHOLLYWOOD, a post-production facility that mostly served indie filmmakers. Left to my own devices, would I have nailed pricing (flat fee, no room for bargaining) and customer support (email-only but responsive) like we have? Doubt it.
Hackers take note: non-technical co-founders CAN bring a ton of value to a partnership.
Or: if you're going solo, make sure you really understand your customers and your industry.