How to Find a Non-Tech Cofounder
Last updated: January 24, 2026
You can build anything, but a great app alone won't guarantee success. Here's how to find the marketing or business cofounder who can help you grow.
💡 Key Insight: The "if you build it, they will come" era is over. With millions of apps competing for attention, you need both a great product AND great marketing to succeed.
📊 The data: Only 4% of top 100 companies were started by solo founders. While you can start a company alone, having the right cofounder significantly increases your odds of success.
Why You Need a Non-Tech Cofounder
As a developer, you can ship features faster than most. But growth, marketing, and business development require a completely different skill set.
You lack go-to-market experience
Building an app is one thing. Getting it in front of the right users, converting them, and retaining them is another skill entirely.
You'd rather code than manage marketing
Managing freelancers, agencies, and ad campaigns takes time away from building. A cofounder handles this full-time.
You're wearing too many hats
Coding, support, marketing, analytics, ASO, social media—it's overwhelming. A cofounder splits the load.
You want someone fully invested
Freelancers and agencies work on your project part-time. A cofounder has skin in the game and is as committed as you are.
Tap Your Network First
The best cofounders often come from people you already know. Before looking externally, thoroughly mine your own network.
Go through your connections
Review your LinkedIn, think about everyone you went to school with or worked with. Ask your friends for intros.
Don't be shy about asking
People avoid this because they don't want to spend social currency. But starting a company is a 10-year journey—if you're not willing to be vulnerable by asking friends to join you, you're not serious enough yet.
Ask people with jobs
Don't assume someone with a job isn't interested—many are secretly ready to do something new.
💡 Insight: If you have a great friend who would do a startup with you, but they aren't interested in your current idea, consider changing your idea to work with them. The person is more important than the idea.
When You Might Not Need One
You've run successful campaigns before
If you have experience with ASO, paid ads, or content marketing and have seen results, you might be able to handle it.
You're happy with freelancers or agencies
If you have the budget and don't mind managing external help, you can grow without giving up equity.
Your app is growing organically
If word-of-mouth and App Store search are driving solid growth, you might not need a marketing cofounder yet.
The Person is More Important Than the Idea
If your startup works, you're starting a 10-year relationship. Don't over-optimize for skills you need right now—your job will change every 6 months anyway.
Enjoy spending time together
Would you choose to spend time with this person outside of work? Most organic cofounders are friends before they are cofounders.
Look for exceptional people
Ask yourself: Is this person going to start a successful company someday with or without me? Are they just as capable as I am?
Trust your hesitation
If you have hesitancy towards someone, listen to it. Successful cofounder matches are usually "obvious" to both people right at the start.
"Complementary skills" is overrated
Many of the best founding teams have founders who are very similar. People who are similar often get along well, and that matters more than skill gaps.
Success Stories
Sequin - $5.7M raised
Vrinda Gupta left her job after launching credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve at Visa. She spent a year as a solo founder, raised a pre-seed and built an MVP, but knew she needed a technical cofounder.
She matched with Mark Thomas—10 years of PayPal engineering, cared about gender equity, 6 years as CTO at family-oriented startups. They met the day after matching, and then the day after, and then the day after that.
Kiwi Biosciences - $1.5M raised
Anjie Liu started the company to solve her own IBS issues. She had a founding scientist for R&D but wanted a cofounder to commercialize the product.
David Hachuel had previously sold a startup in the same space. They took a structured approach—answering 50+ questions on conflict resolution, culture, and vision. When their month-long trial ended, the decision to commit was easy.
Good Traits to Look For
Passion for your product
They genuinely believe in what you're building and can communicate that authentically to users.
Relevant industry contacts
Existing relationships with journalists, influencers, or partners in your app's niche.
Data-driven mindset
They track metrics, run A/B tests, and make decisions based on numbers—not gut feelings alone.
Versatility
Marketing channels change fast. They should adapt to new platforms and strategies quickly.
Long-term vision
They're not just chasing quick wins. They think about where the app will be in 2-5 years.
Proven track record
They can show you specific metrics from past campaigns—installs, conversions, retention improvements.
Red Flags to Avoid
Overconfidence
"This app will sell itself" is a warning sign. Marketing is hard, and they should know that.
No metrics to share
If they can't show numbers from past work, they're probably all talk.
Obsessed with one channel
Great marketers are channel-agnostic. They use whatever works, not just their favorite platform.
Poor personal brand
If they can't market themselves (LinkedIn, Twitter, portfolio), how will they market your app?
Refuses to delegate
As you scale, they'll need to work with freelancers and agencies. Solo heroes don't scale.
No management experience
Eventually they'll lead a team. Some leadership background is valuable.
Where to Find a Non-Tech Cofounder
1. Your Network
The best cofounders often come from people you already know. Tell your friends, former colleagues, and Twitter followers that you're looking. Personal recommendations carry weight.
2. Indie Hackers
A community of founders building products. Many marketers hang out here looking for technical cofounders. Post in the cofounder matching threads.
→ indiehackers.com/group/co-founders-wanted3. Co-Founder Matching Platforms
Several free platforms match founders based on skills and interests. High-quality candidates who are serious about startups.
→ startupschool.org/cofounder-matching4. CoFoundersLab
One of the largest cofounder matching platforms. Filter by skills, location, and industry to find marketing/business cofounders.
→ cofounderslab.com5. Twitter/X
Build in public and engage with the indie maker community. Many successful cofounder matches happen through Twitter connections and DMs.
→ Search #lookingforcofounder6. r/cofounder on Reddit
Active subreddit where founders post looking for cofounders. Sort by new and post your own listing.
→ reddit.com/r/cofounder7. LinkedIn
Search for growth marketers, product marketers, or business developers with mobile app experience. Look for people between jobs or at early-stage startups.
The Step-by-Step Journey
Browse many profiles
There's no shortcut—look through lots of candidates on cofounder matching platforms.
Send messages proactively
Don't expect people to message you. Reach out to people you find compelling.
Have a few conversations
Get to know them, discuss startup ideas, and what you're each looking for.
Start a work trial
If conversations are promising, work together for 1-2 months before committing.
Formalize the partnership
Incorporate, set up equity agreements with vesting, and make it official.
⏱️ How long does it take? The median time to find the right cofounder is about 100 days. Several successful teams took over 9 months. Don't rush—most first matched with many people they didn't end up working with.
Do a Work Trial First
The only way to really know if you work well with someone is to actually work with them for a while.
1-2 months in-person, full-time
If you're both working together full-time in person, 1-2 months is enough to know if it's working.
Longer for remote/part-time
If you're not in-person or not full-time, you get to know each other slower. Working remotely part-time for 6 months actually doesn't tell you that much.
Agree on ownership upfront
Decide beforehand what happens to the work if you decide not to continue together.
Meet in Person
Starting a company requires far more trust than hiring an employee. In-person is the best way to build that trust.
Prioritize your city first
Most successful cofounder matches were living in the same city, making it easy to get to know each other well.
One week IRL > months on Zoom
You'll learn more about a person in one week of working together in person than months on video calls.
Be willing to relocate
If you're in different cities, at least one of you will need to relocate for this to work. If neither is willing, it might not be the right match.
10 Questions to Discuss
After you've gotten to know someone and found an idea you're both interested in, go through these questions before committing:
1. What are your expectations for time commitment and working style?
2. How do you prefer to resolve conflicts when you disagree?
3. What's your vision for the company culture?
4. What does success look like to you in 5 years?
5. How do you feel about raising venture capital vs. bootstrapping?
6. What happens if one of us wants to leave?
7. How will we divide responsibilities and decision-making?
8. What's your financial runway and salary expectations?
9. How do you handle stress and setbacks?
10. What are your personal obligations that might affect the company?
How Much Equity to Give
Industry best practice strongly recommends equal or near-equal equity splits in almost all cases.
Equal splits work best
Despite internet advice about "calculating" splits, the simple solution—splitting equally—is usually best. A 51/49 split is fine if you need a tiebreaker.
Consider timing
If you've already built and launched the app, you've done more work. A later cofounder typically gets less equity than day-one partners. Post-launch: 10-25% is common.
Always use vesting
4-year vesting with a 1-year cliff is industry standard. It protects both of you—if things don't work out, unvested equity returns to the company.
Discuss it early
Don't put off the equity conversation because it's uncomfortable. Agree in one of your first conversations, write it down, and stick to it. The #1 reason for cofounder breakups is trying to renegotiate equity later.
⚠️ Important: Investors look at equity splits. A 90/5/5 split signals that the non-tech cofounders aren't really committed. Industry standard defines a cofounder as having at least 10% equity.
How to Work Together
Developers and marketers think differently. Bridge the gap with these practices:
Speak in metrics
Numbers are the common language. Talk about CAC, LTV, conversion rates, and retention—not vague feelings about what "might work."
Explain technical constraints
Help them understand what's easy vs. hard to build. This shapes realistic marketing promises and feature priorities.
Listen to user feedback
Your cofounder will talk to users more than you. Trust their insights about what users actually want vs. what you think they need.
Avoid silos
Stay connected. Weekly syncs, shared dashboards, and open Slack channels prevent misalignment.
Don't Rush
Finding a cofounder is like finding a business partner for a marriage. 23% of failed startups cite "not having the right team" as a reason. Take your time. Meet multiple candidates. Do a trial project together before committing to equity.