Advertised for one on campus - used facebook and posted flyers all over the CS dept.
Got 15 interested guys, picked two and spent the summer with them hacking on a project. We lived and worked in a tiny apartment, all sleeping in the same room. Best summer of my life.
Yup, well there were two bedrooms, and our servers got the larger.
The room we slept in could barely fit a bunk bed and twin bed (which is what we did). Regardless, we had such different schedules, it didn't really matter. Usually when one person was asleep - the other two would be working.
He was an undergrad at the university where I went to grad school. Though he's only 1 year younger, there was a 2 year overlap because he got kicked out of college for a year for not doing his classwork.
Tried a project with one and saw we worked great together. Anyone you are not sure of, try working with them on something and see what happens. If you are still not sure you haven't lost out. Plus, working on stuff is quite fun.
You really need to test all aspects of the relationship with cofounders. So deliberately acting angry to see what they do or needing help and seeing how they respond are examples.
Spark is one thing you notice if things work out. Good luck!
I met one in the post office by overhearing his conversation and recognizing a fit. Another I met through linkedin by searching for a specific skillset and a third I met by asking a friend if he knew any good matches for my project.
Seriously, please contact me if you are interested (in our project, what we're doing, etc):
nathanatlitepostdotcom
[I should clarify: by "YC cofounders" I do NOT mean co-founders to apply with me to YC. I want "YC people": cofounders who are otherwise involved, inspired by or motivated by YC.]
Got 15 interested guys, picked two and spent the summer with them hacking on a project. We lived and worked in a tiny apartment, all sleeping in the same room. Best summer of my life.