Startups aren't as black and white for you to be able to say for every startup, there should be 1 technical founder and 1 non-technical founder and each have roles XYZ. The truth is every company is different and the roles you need to fill should be clearly understood by you and your cofounder(s). It is important to outline what key functions and skills are necessary for your company and focus on those. It is important that the collective knowledge of your founders encompass all that is necessary for your startup to be successful. For example, someone on your team will need strong industry knowledge.
Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
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Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#32> Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a Non-technical founder should have?
Sales experience, contacts, technical knowledge (seriously, if you're currently not technical, learn how to program) or a massive amount of capital to inject.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#33A couple people here have said "Sales", but in my opinion (technical founder who usually takes non-technical roles), the most important is hiring . I often talk to non-technical people who want to start a tech company, and I ask them really baseline questions about the tech people they want to hire: "What language do you want someone to be able to code in?" Usually, I get glazed-over eyes followed by a defensive resp…
Is it really necessary for a non-technical founder to understand the differences between node.js and C#/.NET?
Frameworks and languages have a part in defining the structure of the organization, how development grows, how people's work is measured, and so on. It will ultimately have a significant role in office politics. Once a company scales past 25-100 people, developer politics will be there to stay regardless of language. So you have to pick what kind of trade offs you want to deal with. And a founder should be the informed final word on that crucial choice
Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#34Basically everything in Steve Blank's Four Steps to the Epiphany (another phrase for this is "business development")
If there is someone you are considering for a co-founder role, tell them to get the book and read it.
If they get the book and read it and come back a week later saying "holy shit lets get started", then you've found your non-technical co-founder.
If they complain about having to get a book and read it, you can forget them, they are wrong for the job.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it really necessary for a non-technical founder to understand the differences between node.js and C#/.NET?
"I know bridges can be built out of metal or wood! I'll just hire a carpenter and let them figure it out..."
Anybody qualified to be CTO of a company should be able to asses the needs of the software, architect the solution, get up to speed on any technologies they're not yet familiar with, and implement the solution.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, you're wrong. Many languages (and other technologies) are versatile and can do different things, so they're not as important here. What is needed are people who know how to design and build the product/prototype, and leave them to decide which technology to use.
I am not talking from a "Hacker News" perspective here, where we can debate the details of functional programming or talk about which language makes the most sense. I am speaking of conversations (that I've actually had, on a regular basis) that go like this: Me: So do you plan on building that as a web app, or a mobile app? Non-technical founder: Um. I don't know. Both? Me: Okay, do you understand that you will prob…
Notice that nowhere in that conversation did you mention choice of language.
Additionally, the correct answer is "Find a good technical co-founder, or spend money on good consultants, and let them figure out the rest and explain their decisions afterwards to you."
Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am not talking from a "Hacker News" perspective here, where we can debate the details of functional programming or talk about which language makes the most sense. I am speaking of conversations (that I've actually had, on a regular basis) that go like this: Me: So do you plan on building that as a web app, or a mobile app? Non-technical founder: Um. I don't know. Both? Me: Okay, do you understand that you will prob…
It's not a "Hacker News perspective", it's the basic principle of anything. If you have a car and want to take a ride, you need a driver or you'll crash. If we're talking about a non-technical founder starting a tech startup, the first advice to the is only one: find a technical co-founder and don't even think about starting it without them. What you're describing should be the job for that technical co-founder, and…
all you've done now is change the question from 'what kind of developer do you want to find' to 'what kind of co-founder do you want to find'.
Or would you tell someone to trust their gut and blindly pickup a 'technical' cofounder?
Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#38A couple people here have said "Sales", but in my opinion (technical founder who usually takes non-technical roles), the most important is hiring . I often talk to non-technical people who want to start a tech company, and I ask them really baseline questions about the tech people they want to hire: "What language do you want someone to be able to code in?" Usually, I get glazed-over eyes followed by a defensive resp…
Is it really necessary for a non-technical founder to understand the differences between node.js and C#/.NET?
That depends on what the idea is. If you're selling software and you're a founder, you'd better at least want to understand your product or you are useless.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it really necessary for a non-technical founder to understand the differences between node.js and C#/.NET?
"I know bridges can be built out of metal or wood! I'll just hire a carpenter and let them figure it out..."
This should be:
I know bridges can be built out of metal or wood! I'll just hire an engineer and let them figure it out.
Which is great, because that's exactly what the engineer knows how to do. This should be the same case with the technical co-founder, if not, they're the wrong person to choose as your technical co-founder.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?
#40Writing good.