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You do need a technical co-founder [video]

ycombinator.com

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Re: You do need a technical co-founder [video]

#11

Post by tptacek »

timeagain wrote: post #2

Can’t be bothered to watch the whole video at work so I apologize if this is in TFV. If you can’t find one technically minded person who believes enough in your vision to drop everything and help you make it, that is not a good sign for your vision.

The video goes into why that's the wrong mindset. If you're looking for people who "believe in your vision", there's a good chance you're looking for an employee, not a cofounder. Strong candidates have their own vision, and strong teams build something out of everyone's vision.

It can still be the case that one person has an awesome idea that everybody else in the company signs off on. But chances are, everybody on the team is going to have to make some room for other people's ideas and takes on things.

Re: You do need a technical co-founder [video]

#13

Post by andy99 »

michaelje wrote: post #5
timeagain wrote: post #2

Can’t be bothered to watch the whole video at work so I apologize if this is in TFV. If you can’t find one technically minded person who believes enough in your vision to drop everything and help you make it, that is not a good sign for your vision.

Or a technical audience is not the market

I don't think it's about the audience, but the company type. If someone is starting (random example) a food company based on their superior hot-sauce recipe and existing retail relationships, they probably don't need a technical co-founder. If someone is starting a company that "uses AI" to craft and target hot sauce recommendations, but doens't really know what that means and assumes they can get a shop to code them an app, that's going to be a problem. I think the latter case is what this is usually about. Many (most) business owners don't have technical co-founders and are fine, not so in tech.

Re: You do need a technical co-founder [video]

#14

Post by gumballindie »

geiagal wrote: post #7

I wonder what portion of Hacker News users aren't technical. I thought this headline meant a technical founder needs a technical co-founder even.

Judging by how many believe procedural text generators are viable programmers, i’d say a lot of hn users arent technical.

Re: You do need a technical co-founder [video]

#15

Post by redm »

CodeCompost wrote: post #8

Yeah and then the non-technical co-founder treats you like you're worthless because you're "just a programmer"

That may be more of a personality conflict. There's no more important choice than who you co-found with, and both parties should have high regard for each other's value to the business.

Re: You do need a technical co-founder [video]

#17

Post by jensneuse »

The inverse is also true. As a technical founder, and maybe even an introvert like me, you should definitely look for a non-technical co-founder who can help you with networking, etc... I found my dream co-founder through YC Co-founder match and what can I say, it's going great. We're focusing on enterprise GraphQL/API solutions (https://wundergraph.com) and I benefit from the networking and communication abilities of Stefan, while I answer all technical questions. Tldr, I highly recommend to team up with people who complement your skills.

Re: You do need a technical co-founder [video]

#18

Post by distortionfield »

CodeCompost wrote: post #8

Yeah and then the non-technical co-founder treats you like you're worthless because you're "just a programmer"

A tale as old as time. Gotta love the classic spin on the same trope of “the C suite drives the sales tho” to justify their insane salaries and bonuses. like they’d have anything to sell in the first place.

Re: You do need a technical co-founder [video]

#20

Post by Alupis »

CodeCompost wrote: post #8

Yeah and then the non-technical co-founder treats you like you're worthless because you're "just a programmer"

Might I suggest not being "just a programmer" then?

In a startup it's extremely important for founders to wear many hats and share many burdens.

If you're the person that just goes off into a cave and emerges with beautiful code 6 weeks later and then expects everything to be great - you're wrong. There's a massive amount of foundational work to do to support a startup that technical people don't even think about.

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