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Am I missing the irony here? (this happens to me occasionally, I being a non-native English speaker). But if this MBA shit is easy as he says (and none of his 4

by fhe 16y ago

Am I missing the irony here? (this happens to me occasionally, I being a non-native English speaker). But if this MBA shit is easy as he says (and none of his 4 steps looks that hard), then seriously why does he deserve more than 15% equity... I am reminded of some line from Paul Graham. He was talking about literature and physics professors, but it fits just as well here. Imagine this thought experiment: technical and non-technical founders were asked to switch roles and do what the other person did. The business guy will write the code, and the technical guy will figure out how to make people pay for it. The one who fails will be shot. Whom would you rather be?

pavlov 16y ago
If my life were on the line, I would absolutely go for the business->coding transition. The odds of success are so much better. Learning programming is ultimately a matter of studying hard. It can be mastered through books, Google and relentless solitary experimentation. Making people pay for something is a fickle social art. Who wants to get shot for failing at something so intangible?
- petsos 16y ago
  That is assuming you have an infinite amount of time to master programming. What would you choose if you had, say, a year?
- philk 16y ago
  You're thinking about this from the perspective of someone who's already technically strong. If you aren't technically strong, trying to prise dollars from fingers is often less terrifying than trying to deal with an impenetrable technical jungle.
- dkirker 16y ago
  Learning to program (especially beyond just being a basic code monkey) requires a certain kind of mind, on top of years and years of hard work and continuous practice. So, I wouldn't say that the odds of success are better going from business to programming -- unless you want to run the risk of writing code that may not meet your demands, or you already know how to code and want to start in business (in which case the situation is circular). I have seen business people fail miserably at programming. I would say that the odds are the same, going either way. It takes the right kind of person to program (not just code), and the right kind of person to operate a business. It takes both of these to get both.
conanite 16y ago
Selling is hard, and I certainly don't want to be the dude selling code written by the business guy :)
mironathetin 16y ago
"...why does he deserve more than 15% equity..." Because it is a (bad) habit to hugely overpay these guys.
mironathetin 16y ago
I think the main point is: you cannot do everything yourself. It is necessary to concentrate on what you do best and get expert help for the rest. MBAs happen to be experts on something (what ever that may be). That is why they can be useful. That is why you may have jobs for them. These business guys are the first to reject funding for your startup, if you DO try to learn everything yourself and not get external knowledge into your company. Well, this makes the post a bit pointless, indeed.
ArcticCelt 16y ago
I am pretty sure this was pure satire and a simple role inversion of the exact same monologue that programmers make from time to time. This: As a nontechnical founder, I get approached to do a startup by code jocks every few days. "I have this great codebase for a project I've been working on, but I just need you to create a functional business model, marketing plan, and acquire 14,000 customers for me. I'll even offer you a generous 15% of the company, because that's the easy part". Punks. Is a parody of this: As a non-business oriented founder, I get approached to do a startup by MBA jocks every few days. "I have this great idea for a project I've been working on, but I just need you to create a functional design and prototype that can handle 14,000 customers per second. I'll even offer you a generous 15% of the company, because that's the easy part". Punks. I think the message here is that both extremes are non constructive and that you need a balance between business skills and hacking skills.

by fhe 16y ago

pavlov 16y ago

If my life were on the line, I would absolutely go for the business->coding transition. The odds of success are so much better. Learning programming is ultimately a matter of studying hard. It can be mastered through books, Google and relentless solitary experimentation. Making people pay for something is a fickle social art. Who wants to get shot for failing at something so intangible?

petsos 16y ago
That is assuming you have an infinite amount of time to master programming. What would you choose if you had, say, a year?
philk 16y ago
You're thinking about this from the perspective of someone who's already technically strong. If you aren't technically strong, trying to prise dollars from fingers is often less terrifying than trying to deal with an impenetrable technical jungle.
dkirker 16y ago
Learning to program (especially beyond just being a basic code monkey) requires a certain kind of mind, on top of years and years of hard work and continuous practice. So, I wouldn't say that the odds of success are better going from business to programming -- unless you want to run the risk of writing code that may not meet your demands, or you already know how to code and want to start in business (in which case the situation is circular). I have seen business people fail miserably at programming. I would say that the odds are the same, going either way. It takes the right kind of person to program (not just code), and the right kind of person to operate a business. It takes both of these to get both.

conanite 16y ago

Selling is hard, and I certainly don't want to be the dude selling code written by the business guy :)

mironathetin 16y ago

"...why does he deserve more than 15% equity..." Because it is a (bad) habit to hugely overpay these guys.

mironathetin 16y ago

I think the main point is: you cannot do everything yourself. It is necessary to concentrate on what you do best and get expert help for the rest. MBAs happen to be experts on something (what ever that may be). That is why they can be useful. That is why you may have jobs for them. These business guys are the first to reject funding for your startup, if you DO try to learn everything yourself and not get external knowledge into your company. Well, this makes the post a bit pointless, indeed.

ArcticCelt 16y ago

I am pretty sure this was pure satire and a simple role inversion of the exact same monologue that programmers make from time to time. This: As a nontechnical founder, I get approached to do a startup by code jocks every few days. "I have this great codebase for a project I've been working on, but I just need you to create a functional business model, marketing plan, and acquire 14,000 customers for me. I'll even offer you a generous 15% of the company, because that's the easy part". Punks. Is a parody of this: As a non-business oriented founder, I get approached to do a startup by MBA jocks every few days. "I have this great idea for a project I've been working on, but I just need you to create a functional design and prototype that can handle 14,000 customers per second. I'll even offer you a generous 15% of the company, because that's the easy part". Punks. I think the message here is that both extremes are non constructive and that you need a balance between business skills and hacking skills.