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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]

#51

Post by alfalfasprout »

atoav wrote: post #4

This is what I constantly tell my students: The hard part about doing a tech product for the most part isn't the what beginners think makes tech hard — the hard part is wrangling systemic complexity in a good, sustainable and reliable way. Many non-tech people e.g. look at programmers and think the hard part is knowing what this garble of weird text means. But this is the easy part. And if you are a person who would…

I mean, this is largely true in software engineering in general. Programming is easy. Perhaps being an excellent programmer is much harder but for many things being mediocre is good enough.

The hard part is building things sustainably at scale (people wise or performance wise). That's when a combination of knowing how to manage systemic complexity and knowing how to communicate very well (soft skills) really come into play.

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

#52

Post by Eumenes »

DelaneyM wrote: post #47

Corollary: you do not need a non-technical co-founder. My advice to engineers is that it's nearly always easier to learn business/sales than to learn to like a co-founder, especially the type generally drawn to being a "business" founder. It is good to have a co-founder in general though, get one of those if you can. Just don't worry about finding complementary skills, bias entirely towards someone you can work with.

I generally agree but if you're developing a product for a niche industry and that non-technical co-founder has a shit ton of insight and connections, it will 1000% open doors. Then again, perhaps you can partner with those folks in other ways vs giving away 50% equity.

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

#53

Post by choppaface »

oooyay wrote: post #36

I like Michael's take that the real value in a founder is their ability to recruit the right team. What I don't think was said explicitly here is that typically technical people are progressively marginalized as the business grows. We get some harrowing stories where that doesn't happen, but I don't think that's the standard story. Like they allude to, it's a story of what the people who handle the money and investme…

> typically technical people are progressively marginalized as the business grows

I know three YC technical co-founders who were ousted by their CEOs, and a justintv alumn who got nothing from the follow-on exits. When YC says “you need a technical co-founder” they mean it like you need a disposable lawyer. The essay here is about targeting growth and flipping, not high-performance teamwork.

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

#54

Post by Tactical45 »

jensneuse wrote: post #17

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…

You hit the nail on the head with complimentary piece - and extending that to personality as well.

You need a mix of technical skills (engineering, product, marketing, etc) but also personalities (which manifest in different behaviors which are all useful & compliment each other - eg bias for action and hitting targets vs careful analysis).

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

#55

Post by m_a_g »

gnicholas wrote: post #41

This is generally true. I had a technical cofounder for the first 4 years or so, but once our tools were built it was less clear what his ongoing role would be. This is because at that point, our focus turned to licensing our (patented) technology to businesses. We still have B2C customers who use the tools that he originally built (and which have been updated by contractors after he left), but now the vast majority…

And your client's needs won't change ever? The product won't need anything done on it until vacuum decay?

Finally, someone made a proper JS library.

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

#56

Post by [deleted] »

distortionfield wrote: post #22
redm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Of course that’s how it _should_ be. After working at enough startups in very early and/or founder roles, I can tell you it’s more common than not to get treated like a second class citizen when the “business” dinners come.

[deleted]

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

#57

Post by lnsru »

ofirg wrote: post #27

"but based on the thousands of companies YC has funded over the years, companies lacking a technical co-founder underperform" which could mean soon-to-be-underperforming companies fail to attract technical co-founders

I am developer who spend 2 decades developing things. First decade it was hardware and now I moved to software. I can always guess which idea from “idea person” will work and which is not technically feasible. In my limited experience the “idea persons” are not really listening why stuff does not work. Sometimes simple laws of physics are ignored.

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

#58

Post by gnicholas »

DelaneyM wrote: post #47

Corollary: you do not need a non-technical co-founder. My advice to engineers is that it's nearly always easier to learn business/sales than to learn to like a co-founder, especially the type generally drawn to being a "business" founder. It is good to have a co-founder in general though, get one of those if you can. Just don't worry about finding complementary skills, bias entirely towards someone you can work with.

This is more likely to be true where you are selling to other technical people. But it becomes much less likely to be true when you are selling B2C, or to non-technical businesspeople. And of course, the ability of a technical person to learn sales varies quite a bit. Some technical folks pick it up easily, but others do not (or find important non-technical bits like fundraising and sales to be very distasteful/annoying).

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

#59

Post by jeremyjh »

sebmellen wrote: post #44
atoav wrote: post #4

This is what I constantly tell my students: The hard part about doing a tech product for the most part isn't the what beginners think makes tech hard — the hard part is wrangling systemic complexity in a good, sustainable and reliable way. Many non-tech people e.g. look at programmers and think the hard part is knowing what this garble of weird text means. But this is the easy part. And if you are a person who would…

More people need to read https://grugbrain.dev/

I really wish I'd read this 25 years ago, but probably I wouldn't have believed any of it.

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

#60

Post by choppaface »

DelaneyM wrote: post #47

Corollary: you do not need a non-technical co-founder. My advice to engineers is that it's nearly always easier to learn business/sales than to learn to like a co-founder, especially the type generally drawn to being a "business" founder. It is good to have a co-founder in general though, get one of those if you can. Just don't worry about finding complementary skills, bias entirely towards someone you can work with.

Need somebody who can do product and sales. Often this person is predominantly non-technical.
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