I’m approached fairly regularly for equity gigs, and I want to help anyone approaching technical people to develop their idea for equity. Fundamentally, you need to address these things:

Who are you?

Innovation most reliably comes from people familiar with the field. That is: Firefighters are going to know about problems facing firefighters. Veterinarians are going to know about problems facing veterinarians. Disc golfers are going to know about problems facing disc golfers. It’s why “Solve a problem you’re facing” is a good place to start when looking for ideas.

Yes, there are exceptions: Samuel Colt was inspired by a nautical capstan to develop the revolver. There was no category of heavier-than-air powered aviation when the Wright brothers built the first airplane. Lonnie Johnson was trying to make a heat pump when he made the super soaker. Exceptions are exciting, but they are also exceptions.

What have you done?

What are your or your team’s past successes? There are lots of business elements to productizing an idea. Past successes indicate that you or your team are capable of handling them.

If you are limited in this area (e.g. you’ve been focused on your primary career, you’re younger, etc.), at a bare minimum test demand to get an idea of how your product might do, and to show you have the interest and drive to see it through.

(Finally) What’s your idea?

“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.” — Howard Aiken

This is intentionally third because #1 and #2 are more important. Divulge your idea and use a non-disclosure agreement if you like. But when you lay out your idea, you should also be able to answer basic marketing questions:

1. What problem are you solving?
2. What differentiates your idea? Lots of ideas are already in the market, or have been fielded and failed.
3. Quantify the overall opportunity. In Ride of a Lifetime, Bob Iger warned against “trombone oil” businesses where, even if you become the best player in the market, the opportunity is incredibly small.

What’s your plan?

As previously mentioned, there are lots of business elements beyond just developing a product. What’s your go-to-market plan?

How much equity will they get?

Look up the salaries for developers, and the rate of startup failures. If—on an actuarial basis, with conservative revenue estimates—you can’t beat a developer’s salary, then you are offering too little.

Answer: Why don’t you have capital to pay someone?

If you or other investors don’t believe in your idea enough to invest money to develop it, why should a developer invest their time/money?

Listen to their feedback

Your idea may be technically infeasible, or require a lot of time and people. They can tell you these things in detail. Listen.

If you don’t listen to them, you downplay their feedback, or you talk over them, they will definitely not work with you. It’s bad enough to deal with difficult people when you’re being paid to do so. There’s no reason to do so when you’re not.

Accept ‘no’ gracefully

You will hear ‘no’ a lot. Acknowledge that:

1. Everyone is busy.
2. Everyone has bills to pay, and you can’t buy food with pre-revenue startup equity.
3. Even good ideas can fail, wiping out all that invested time.

If your idea, product, plan and you are appealing enough, you will eventually get a ‘yes’ or ‘I know someone.’

Keep at it

Good luck!