In one of PG's essays on this site he talks about start-up hackers often feeling as though they need a co-founder with "business" knowledge and then says this is not a fundamental requirement for a start-up's success. I have the opposite problem, I am a former lawyer (UK) currently looking at a start-up but feel the need for a "hacker" co-founder for my venture to succeed. I know nothing about software code etc. Am I doomed without a hacker to work with me and is YC the wrong place for me to be looking?
Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
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Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#2This question has been asked plenty of times before. Look up variations of "business/idea guy needs hacker." But you should at least hack a bit with Ruby on Rails so at the least you won't piss off your technical co-founder. If you have deep domain knowledge, significant contacts, and a problem that is worth solving, then getting a hacker co-founder should be pretty straight forward.
It is my personal belief that the team composition depends on the type of opportunity and where the core competitive advantage will come from. If you are a lawyer, and you want to make a paperless solution for legal firms, you better believe you'll need a technology wiz. However, if the technology component is honestly only a small part of the overall problem, then you can perhaps look to getting an employee or contract out the tech work.
Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#3Samantha:
In one of my earliest post, I wrote about what makes startup fail (or succeed).
http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2007/09/why-startups-fa.html
What I have learned in the last five years turns to be very different from what I have learned in the five years before that. When there was a viable market for startups (i.e., robust IPO and M&A opportunities), the limitation often had to do with money. But when there is no market (i.e., no liquidity) for startups (as it is now), success has to do with a viable market for the product.
So it seems to me that it doesn't really matter if you are a lawyer or a "hacker", as long as you are the "surrogate" customer and knows intimately what your targeted customers want and what their pain points. Then having a "hacker" as a partner is important only so far as he/she will be the one to implement the product idea and is in fact, quite "interchangeable".
Good luck.
--Denny--
Denny K Miu
Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#4Hamsters and snakes can be friends[0]. Anything is possible.
Hackers and lawyers are often at odds because the hackers want to do something interesting that could be a threat to someone else's profits. That person hires lawyers to stop the hackers. Within the same organization, hackers and lawyers are often on opposite sides because the lawyer's job is to avoid risks while the hacker's job is to seek opportunity.
If you can avoid or limit the latter problem, you should be ok as far as fundamental sources of conflict go. YC is a good place to look, but you'll probably have to open up about your idea a bit more than most people want to in order to attract quality hackers.
Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#5This question has been asked plenty of times before. Look up variations of "business/idea guy needs hacker." But you should at least hack a bit with Ruby on Rails so at the least you won't piss off your technical co-founder. If you have deep domain knowledge, significant contacts, and a problem that is worth solving, then getting a hacker co-founder should be pretty straight forward. It is my personal belief that the…
Many thanks, thats helpful
Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#6Samantha: In one of my earliest post, I wrote about what makes startup fail (or succeed). http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2007/09/why-startups-fa.html What I have learned in the last five years turns to be very different from what I have learned in the five years before that. When there was a viable market for startups (i.e., robust IPO and M&A opportunities), the limitation often had to do with money. But when there…
Thankyou too.
Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#7Hamsters and snakes can be friends[0]. Anything is possible. Hackers and lawyers are often at odds because the hackers want to do something interesting that could be a threat to someone else's profits. That person hires lawyers to stop the hackers. Within the same organization, hackers and lawyers are often on opposite sides because the lawyer's job is to avoid risks while the hacker's job is to seek opportunity. If…
I do not disagree with Zak.
However, stereotype has its limits in startups. My own experience is that most formal training is counter-productive when it comes to running a startup and all of us need to "unlearn" whether we are a lawyer or a hacker.
I summarized my observation as the following ...
"Anyone can be an entrepreneur but they must not have the mindset of a lawyer, an engineer ("hacker") or a doctor.
First of all, there are always more than two sides to an issue and often the right place is to be is in the middle - an option that a lawyer does not have. Also, there is not always an answer to every question; or if there is an answer, it might not be unique. So waiting for perfect data to arrive at a perfect solution is a luxury that I don't have as an entrepreneur. If that bothers me, then I should go back to being an engineer. Finally, as an entrepreneur, I often have to shoot my patient (and I have)."
http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2007/10/vc-worst-enemy.html
Hope this helps.
--Denny--
Denny K Miu
Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#8This question has been asked plenty of times before. Look up variations of "business/idea guy needs hacker." But you should at least hack a bit with Ruby on Rails so at the least you won't piss off your technical co-founder. If you have deep domain knowledge, significant contacts, and a problem that is worth solving, then getting a hacker co-founder should be pretty straight forward. It is my personal belief that the…
I disagree. Stick (and perfect) what you do best naturally. Yes, you don't need to have a CS degree to be good at programming, but you DO need to have a passion for it. Actually, having passion for what you do is what makes you an attractive partner to start a new business together. I personally could care less if it's a law or technology, as long as you're in love with what you're doing and it fits the objectives of the venture.
Don't force yourself to be someone you're not.
Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#9Yes, a start-up without a guy that kicks ass coding is doomed. Start-ups provide people with better technology, so it would make sense to know a little about stuff like software/servers/internet. Actually, all other things being equal, the start-up with the strongest technology base will eat up the others.
No, YC is not a bad place to look for people interested in starting a start-up. Just beware, because the word 'hacker' is overused in this place.
Re: Ask YC: Can lawyers and hackers be friends?
#10This question has been asked plenty of times before. Look up variations of "business/idea guy needs hacker." But you should at least hack a bit with Ruby on Rails so at the least you won't piss off your technical co-founder. If you have deep domain knowledge, significant contacts, and a problem that is worth solving, then getting a hacker co-founder should be pretty straight forward. It is my personal belief that the…
Why Ruby on Rails? Python is also worth learning.