Not looking for a co-founder. Looking for a crew.

I'll be honest — I'm not posting this because I found some "million dollar idea" and just need a body to split equity with. I'm posting this because I'm tired of building alone, and I have a feeling I'm not the only one who feels that way right now.

I'm 22, based in Santa Barbara but open to building with people remote too. I've got some directions I'm genuinely excited about (leaning toward the AI/automation space, helping local businesses fix the stuff that's quietly bleeding them money) but I don't want to hand someone a finished plan and ask them to just execute it. I want to actually workshop this with a group, throw ideas around together, and land on something we're all genuinely fired up about pursuing, not just something I decided alone in my room. I'll be upfront: nothing's built yet, no clients, nothing set in stone. Right now it's the hunger to actually go build something real, instead of sitting on it for another year, and I'd rather figure out exactly what that "something" is with the right people than force it by myself.

So here's what I'm actually looking for: a handful of guys, ideally 20s, who feel like life owes them a little more than what they've currently got. Guys who are tired of feeling stuck and are ready to actually do something about it instead of just talking about it. Not "business partners" in the LinkedIn-headshot sense — I mean people who'll check in on each other, push each other when motivation dips, and treat this like we're building it for each other, not just clocking in for a paycheck.

If you've got real skills: dev, design, sales, content/video, actual AI or automation experience, that's a huge plus. I'll be straight with you: I'm not an AI expert, I'm learning a lot of this in real time, and I'd genuinely value people who know more than me in the areas I don't. But hunger and consistency matter more to me than a resume. If you're the guy who's been telling himself "I'll start when ___" for the last year, I'd rather build with you than with someone who already has it all figured out.

A little about who I am, since this is as much about the people as the idea: I genuinely love bringing people together. I believe the real strength of a group comes from everyone's individual insight, not just one guy calling all the shots — the best ideas usually show up when different perspectives collide. I'm a creative, my head is always full of ideas, and I've got connections to people who've actually done this kind of thing before and can help point us in the right direction.

What I can bring to the table: a strong starting direction and real excitement to build on it, the willingness to put in the work to learn what I don't know yet, and a real commitment to showing up every day and getting better at this alongside whoever's building it with me. What I want to build back is a group of guys who have each other's backs for real and not just people you wave at on a Zoom call once a week.

If any of this hits something in you, drop a comment or send a DM. Tell me a little about where you're at right now and what you're good at (or want to get good at). Let's actually build something together.