31–40 of 81 posts
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=779448 http://spencerfry.com/whats-a-non-programmer-to-do If you're looking to add someone to your team, you want someone who will do as much from this list as possible.
As a developer, I'd definitely found a company with someone who has those skills.
First, Don't go to "startup events", meet with customers, other in your industry, find advisors (either technical advisors, or non-technical advisors who have a proven track record of raising funds, doing "business operations" et al). Attend technical conferences to find programming partners and (most importantly) potential customers and advisors. Don't waste your time around "biz dev" types (especially the ones with…
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There's all sorts of problems with this. Usually startups don't have enough money to hire good developers, so they try to pay people in equity. Most developers who aren't personally invested in the idea or the founding team aren't going to split equity with non-technical people unless everyone is clearly bringing something to the table (marketing, fundraising, etc). Unless there's a clearly even split of labor in the…
"Software is very expensive to build." Not necessarily. Offshore outsourcing of programming is quite cheap. The question is whether your MVP is so complex it warrants a $100/hour local programmer to handle that complexity. In many cases, it's not complex enough to warrant it, and paying $100/hour to a developer is inconsistent with building a MVP, because you're hiring a bells and whistles developer better suited to…
Beyond that, oh man...
Even if the non technical cofounders sit on their asses and do absolutely nothing while you code all day, you'd be sitting on 33% equity in an already successful startup, when they took all the cash risk up front to prove the thing works.
It's this mindset that makes a lot of would-be technical co-founders see non-technical people as a threat. I don't care if you're a technical or non-technical co-founder, if you're not going to pull your weight somehow, I don't want to be in business with you.
Also, to be honest, the "cash risk" is essentially irrelevant to me because I have the skill set to build and validate the MVP myself. There's also a large enough market for my skills that I could sell consulting services (yes, at north of $100/hour) to cover any financial costs to test an MVP.
All you're really bringing to the table is the first 3 steps, and asking your technical co-founder(s) to handle the next 617 or so. It's better than just a "big idea", but not by as much as you're thinking.
All you've got to do now is code and build on existing success. And you think that's an offer that you should scoff at?
Oh, is that all?
Here's a hypothetical scenario: let's say Toyota builds a concept car and takes it to an auto show to demonstrate it to customers. They get fantastic feedback and decide to take the car to market. So, you'd be willing to take the concept car design and find a way to manufacture it in an efficient and cost-effective manner? I mean once the customer validation is done, all that "engineering" stuff must be simple, right?
Metaphor aside, an MVP is vastly different than a truly sustainable product. If it's a true MVP, there will be a myriad of unsolved problems (scalability, maintainability, etc.) that only a skilled engineer can solve. Not to mention, what happens when the market inevitably shifts, rendering some or all of your customer validation effort useless?
The most important aspect of any startup is the dynamic of the team. The most important part of that (in my opinion) is to have clearly delineated roles, roughly equivalent in workload and importance. The best teams have members with complementary and supplementary skills, and everyone respects the skills and contributions of everyone else.
My attitude puzzles you because you're assuming that 90% of the risk comes before the MVP. Launch is very different than break-even, which is very different than sustainability or a liquidity event.
I'm a huge believer in the lean startup (I launched and sold one myself) but you have to recognize that the initial customer validation is just the first step down a very long and arduous road. It's hard enough to walk that road in the first place, let alone if I have to carry you on my back.
First, Don't go to "startup events", meet with customers, other in your industry, find advisors (either technical advisors, or non-technical advisors who have a proven track record of raising funds, doing "business operations" et al). Attend technical conferences to find programming partners and (most importantly) potential customers and advisors. Don't waste your time around "biz dev" types (especially the ones with…
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Oh, really? So none of these guys program?
If half or one-third of your team is biz-dev right from the get go, and is not contributing to making your product kick-ass, you're doing it wrong.
Depending on the idea/product/vision, you could argue that that guy is as valuable or more valuable than a coder.
The best way to meet programming partners is to go where the programmers are - tap your friend network and, if you're close to a technical school, your location network.
I'm not a developer, but I am doing a high-tech startup. My cofounder is extremely good at the overall backend work of our product. He's also very good at talking (sometimes I can't get him to stop) and understanding the overall UX the product should have. How have I helped? Well, for starters we established what he's good at and figured out where the gap is. He hates frontend work, so I have designed the site and learned some HTML/CSS to expedite the frontend development. We're also both taking on 500 hats a minute. There are things he's good at (the technical speak) and things I'm good at (the non-technical speak) and things we're both good at (client meetings, processing feedback, making sure the product is working quickly). We're working on a security problem. As it is, we have completely different ideas; he's always been somewhat more of a blackhat, whereas I'm more of a whitehat, so our complementary ideals have been helping us get great publicity and great customers lined up.
I don't think a non-technical cofounder is necessary, but if you can find someone who can or is willing to do what you don't want to deal with (the books, the legal work, the frontend; everyone has something they aren't good at/don't like), who is also someone who can balance your ideals and personality you can get a great working team going.
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>Even one of the YC W11 companies is founded by 3 people, all "biz dev" types. Oh, really? So none of these guys program? If half or one-third of your team is biz-dev right from the get go, and is not contributing to making your product kick-ass, you're doing it wrong.