Totally depends on the startup. What's the core problem of your solution? If it's technical, you need hackers. If it's user-experience ("we'll make a better

Totally depends on the startup. What's the core problem of your solution? If it's technical, you need hackers. If it's user-experience ("we'll make a better solution because the current solutions are clunky!"), you need a UX god. If it's a sales/distribution twist, then you need a smart sales/biz guy. There are certainly scenarios where a non-hacker will be valuable. But for 90% of the startups I see on HN (and elsewhere), someone who is not a "builder" (code, design, copywriting) is a non-critical element for the first phase of a company. IF something starts to take off, that can change. Google hired Eric Schmidt, and I hear that Mark Zuckerburg wants a biz CEO. But until it starts to take off (which is the hard part), a non-builder is non-critical. Not useless, mind you-- just less valuable than the alternative. Better than nothing, though! Oh, and saying that Steve Jobs is a non-hacker is ridiculous. He certainly evolved into something else, but the guy started out going to homebrew computer clubs, working as a technician at Atari, and attending after school lectures at HP.