I ended getting ~15 hackers interested in working on the project over the summer, interviewed 10, and picked two.
We all worked an lived together in the same apartment. It was probably the best summer of my life, and cost us about $2,000 / person. Most of that was for food & rent.
I approached two of the smartest hackers I had worked with, and showed them a very brief Keynote presentation followed by a demo of the concept I had been working on part time over the last 6 months.
The Y-combinator application process prompted me to expedite my search for other founders. I was originally planning on launching v.1 of the app before approaching them. Take-aways from this:
It is tempting to get a co-founder quickly, if only to validate your idea. That's fine, but don't approach potentials just because you believe there is a high chance of them accepting. Always try to bring in the best people you know.
Know that you can work well together. Often said, but it's still worth repeating.
Presentations are great, but it's easier to convince someone to spend their time on an idea when you back your presentation up with a demo. Regardless of the outcome, you'll receive valuable feedback, and it's probably good practice for when you meet VCs.
My initial interest in applying to Ycomb came when a friend of my brother's put an alert out to anyone who wanted to start a business on top of an idea he had around OpenID. I expressed interest and after he discarded his idea, he opted to join my project. However, the connection between he and I was far looser, and eventually he left the group. Interestingly, a day before our third left I told my brother that I had a feeling our third was going to leave. Not particularly useful prescience, but I think it goes to show that if you have a bad feeling about a relationship, you should listen to it.
We've done quite a few ventures together in past 4-5 years with MSN chat being our only line of communication:) If we get into YC he'll be flying up to US and hey we might actually finally meet.
I have the idea, but I can't program for the life of me. I've outsourced to people in China but I need to have someone local who can take care of the small stuff.
It just seems that if I find somebody I'll just be telling them what to do while I sit and watch them code...
How do you deal with this?
For a successful business relationship I believe you need to bring an essential skill that helps the project get off the ground, not just an idea. Otherwise, your only alternative is to learn how to code or pay someone to do it.