How technical does a start-up founder have to be? • Hacker News Board

Re: How technical does a start-up founder have to be?

#51

Post by hs » Wed, May 14, 2008, 10:40 PM UTC

Frocer wrote: post #8

colortone wrote: post #6

It depends on what else you bring to the table If you have biz dev connections that will get deals made, successful experience marketing or fundraising, a design or creative background, experience in the vertical your product serves, etc, these all can add, um, invaluable value to a company

Exactly. PayPal would have never succeeded without Peter Thiels' ability to close fundings left and right. However, I do think one of the founders should be technically savvy, and it doesn't hurt to have the business guy to know some hacking either

yep but it would be bleeding without the security algorithm

Re: How technical does a start-up founder have to be?

#52

Post by hsu » Wed, May 14, 2008, 11:03 PM UTC

If you're talking about a one-person startup, you need to have some level of technical understanding. In order to turn your idea into a business, you need someone to implement the idea, and that's where the hacker(s) come in. A trusted technical person is your first choice. You can also try to hire contractors to implement for you, but without technical know-how, how will you be able to judge if they're any good?

Re: How technical does a start-up founder have to be?

#53

Post by dennykmiu » Wed, May 14, 2008, 11:52 PM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #50

dennykmiu wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get this comment at least once if not three times a week. It is a problem but it is a one-time problem and it does have the side benefit that no one would ever forget the brand. Being mildly controversial is actually a feature for a startup. On the other hand, I have done three different startups in the past. My first one was a component startup and the key to success was in creating a unique socket. My second star…

"By the way, (American) English is a very flexible and tolerate language..." Sure, but that sentence immediately marks you as a second-rate English speaker. Many will take that as a reason to doubt your thoroughness in other areas.

stcredzero - I don't disagree with you.

There is no excuse in not learning to speak and write properly in spite of the fact that for many of us, English is not our first language. And we should try the best we could to make up the difference but it is just one more thing that we have to overcome in our journey as struggling entrepreneurs. But interestingly, my personal experience is that it wasn't until I learn to stutter and I learn to take notes that I start to succeed in startups.

In general, people are suspicious of perfection. You have to show flaws or they won't stop looking for them. I actually had better luck when I don't act perfect. "Strategic Stuttering" turns out to be an important skill.

Also, people don't understand that I have perfect recall (not perfect memory, just perfect recall) and they think that I am not paying attention when I am not taking notes. So I take notes and now everyone seem much happier.