The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
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The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
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Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#2Why was Plenty of Fish used as the sole example in this article? It makes $10 million in profits a year and would take 100 years to make the $1 billion in profits that he require for a startup to be considered as a "scalable startup."
Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#3If it's an "age old question", then it must mean no one has come up with a satisfactory answer despite a lot of data? That would seem to indicate that if the answer is not a firm yes or no, then it is possible. The post, however, says "no".
Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#4If it's an "age old question", then it must mean no one has come up with a satisfactory answer despite a lot of data? That would seem to indicate that if the answer is not a firm yes or no, then it is possible. The post, however, says "no".
It seems as if there is always a debate as to whether this is a yes or no question. In the post, I say "no" to startups and yes to scalable startups. I think that this topic is subjective and hard to define as yes or no.
Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#5I know someone who is non-technical and does startup Internet businesses. His lack of knowledge concerning software development is a real problem, but he guts through it. The biggest problem is one of trust: if you are not yourself a developer you don't appreciate why on rare occasion it can take a while to track down a bug, and other normal software development scenarios. A friend of mine has a way of explaining this to non-techs: "You are going fishing. Tell me exactly when you will catch a fish." :-)
Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#6I know someone who is non-technical and does startup Internet businesses. His lack of knowledge concerning software development is a real problem, but he guts through it. The biggest problem is one of trust: if you are not yourself a developer you don't appreciate why on rare occasion it can take a while to track down a bug, and other normal software development scenarios. A friend of mine has a way of explaining thi…
Hi Mark,
First of all, I must say, your website is very impressive. I would love to chat with you about AI at some point. You are correct about the non-techs understanding and empathizing with the developers. I am a non-technical founder myself, that's why I wrote the post. I try my best to understand the processes and problems that the tech team goes through. I try and learn as much as possible in order to not be in the dark.
I also like the fish analogy :D
Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#7Why was Plenty of Fish used as the sole example in this article? It makes $10 million in profits a year and would take 100 years to make the $1 billion in profits that he require for a startup to be considered as a "scalable startup."
+ PoF is no longer adsense based, he is running his own advertising and selling premium accounts.
Actually I've recently read an article that basically questions PoFs claims. It was a few years old, from when he was still running adsense...but basically it raised one question..."if plenty of fish is as successful as the guy claims(still had that 10mm/yr number back then)...why isn't he an adsense premium publisher?"
Basically it implied that the only reason Plenty of Fish took off, was because the guy lied his ass off early on when he was making a few grand a month, saying that he was making millions, which got him a ton of coverage which in turn eventually got him more users, which in turn led to the $1mm/yr number.
And that even now the numbers he is putting out for consumption are nowhere close to reality, and is just a way for him to get more free marketing.
Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#8Why was Plenty of Fish used as the sole example in this article? It makes $10 million in profits a year and would take 100 years to make the $1 billion in profits that he require for a startup to be considered as a "scalable startup."
+ PoF is no longer adsense based, he is running his own advertising and selling premium accounts. Actually I've recently read an article that basically questions PoFs claims. It was a few years old, from when he was still running adsense...but basically it raised one question..."if plenty of fish is as successful as the guy claims(still had that 10mm/yr number back then)...why isn't he an adsense premium publisher?"…
You never know, that is a distinct possibility. If the numbers are relatively correct, then it is a different way of doing business. If not, then it is another case of trying to get marketing any way he can.
Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#9Of course a non-technical founder can run a startup. Just look at Richard Branson. Or some of the many startups in greentech, biotech or anything else not directly related to the internets.
However, I don't recall any startups without a founder that has some flair for sales and marketing succeed.
Re: The Age Old Question: Can A Non-Technical Founder Run A Startup?
#10Of course a non-technical founder can run a startup. Just look at Richard Branson. Or some of the many startups in greentech, biotech or anything else not directly related to the internets. However, I don't recall any startups without a founder that has some flair for sales and marketing succeed.
Thank you. I agree 100%, that is why I wrote the post. I didn't reveal it too much in there, but as a non-technical founder, there are ways to make it work.