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This is, of course, missing the biggest reason you want a "non-technical" founder. It's not their MBA skills, it's their knowledge of the market you're addressi

This is, of course, missing the biggest reason you want a "non-technical" founder. It's not their MBA skills, it's their knowledge of the market you're addressing and specific non-coding skills within that market. Much of "business" probably is largely mechanical. But what your non-technical founder brings is the knowledge of what to build.

anamax 16y ago
> But what your non-technical founder brings is the knowledge of what to build. Does she? Where does that knowledge come from? Why is it necessarily true that technical folks don't have it and that non-technical folks do? Yes, there are non-technical folks who know more about selling houses than I do, but that's a long way from the above claim.
- bensummers 16y ago
  You might find technical folk who've been deeply involved in a business sector, can articulate that sector's needs, know how to sell to them, and have lots of contacts. I'm just saying, on balance of probabilities, it's unlikely.
  - anamax 16y ago
    > You might find technical folk who've been deeply involved in a business sector, can articulate that sector's needs, know how to sell to them, and have lots of contacts. You're mixing up "able to sell" and "knowing what to build". Knowing what to build does not require lots of contacts or knowing how to sell. While "can articulate" is required to sell, it isn't required to build. However, knowing what to build does require knowing what can be built. In short, "knowing what to build" is well-within the domain of technical people. Getting "it" sold isn't.
    - bensummers 16y ago
      "Knowing what to build" is fine for technical people who are building a simple web based tool which they'll use themselves. However, this doesn't generalise to building software for complex industries. As an example, a few years ago I was advising a company who wanted to automate the calculation of tax. You would have thought that this was easy, but in fact it's the most complex thing ever and you need that non-technical specialist domain knowledge. (You know you're in for a fun ride when you ask a question and the answer is "we're not sure, but we've booked flights to Italy to go and ask the authorities there".) I think I have missed out a load of qualifiers in my previous comments. Here they are: * The skills required for a startup will probably be spread out over many people. * There's no hard and fast rule about which skills anyone will have. * Technical people might be good at sales. * "Non-technical" people might not be good at sales. * "Knowing what to build" and "able to sell" are skills which may or may not be found in the same person. * Knowing what to build might be a skill of any of your founders have, depending on their experience in the market. There's probably a few more. I suppose this is the trouble with trying to write concise generally true comments, you forget to cover all the edge cases.
      - anamax 16y ago
        > "Knowing what to build" is fine for technical people who are building a simple web based tool which they'll use themselves. However, this doesn't generalise to building software for complex industries. Who said anything about software? > As an example, a few years ago I was advising a company who wanted to automate the calculation of tax. You would have thought that this was easy, No, I wouldn't, because I know a little about taxes. A technical tax person would know even more and understand a lot of the complexity. > but in fact it's the most complex thing ever and you need that non-technical specialist domain knowledge. Why do you persist in saying that domain knowledge is necessarily non-technical and that technical people can't have it? Both are wrong.

anamax 16y ago

> But what your non-technical founder brings is the knowledge of what to build. Does she? Where does that knowledge come from? Why is it necessarily true that technical folks don't have it and that non-technical folks do? Yes, there are non-technical folks who know more about selling houses than I do, but that's a long way from the above claim.

bensummers 16y ago
You might find technical folk who've been deeply involved in a business sector, can articulate that sector's needs, know how to sell to them, and have lots of contacts. I'm just saying, on balance of probabilities, it's unlikely.
- anamax 16y ago
  > You might find technical folk who've been deeply involved in a business sector, can articulate that sector's needs, know how to sell to them, and have lots of contacts. You're mixing up "able to sell" and "knowing what to build". Knowing what to build does not require lots of contacts or knowing how to sell. While "can articulate" is required to sell, it isn't required to build. However, knowing what to build does require knowing what can be built. In short, "knowing what to build" is well-within the domain of technical people. Getting "it" sold isn't.
  - bensummers 16y ago
    "Knowing what to build" is fine for technical people who are building a simple web based tool which they'll use themselves. However, this doesn't generalise to building software for complex industries. As an example, a few years ago I was advising a company who wanted to automate the calculation of tax. You would have thought that this was easy, but in fact it's the most complex thing ever and you need that non-technical specialist domain knowledge. (You know you're in for a fun ride when you ask a question and the answer is "we're not sure, but we've booked flights to Italy to go and ask the authorities there".) I think I have missed out a load of qualifiers in my previous comments. Here they are: * The skills required for a startup will probably be spread out over many people. * There's no hard and fast rule about which skills anyone will have. * Technical people might be good at sales. * "Non-technical" people might not be good at sales. * "Knowing what to build" and "able to sell" are skills which may or may not be found in the same person. * Knowing what to build might be a skill of any of your founders have, depending on their experience in the market. There's probably a few more. I suppose this is the trouble with trying to write concise generally true comments, you forget to cover all the edge cases.
    - anamax 16y ago
      > "Knowing what to build" is fine for technical people who are building a simple web based tool which they'll use themselves. However, this doesn't generalise to building software for complex industries. Who said anything about software? > As an example, a few years ago I was advising a company who wanted to automate the calculation of tax. You would have thought that this was easy, No, I wouldn't, because I know a little about taxes. A technical tax person would know even more and understand a lot of the complexity. > but in fact it's the most complex thing ever and you need that non-technical specialist domain knowledge. Why do you persist in saying that domain knowledge is necessarily non-technical and that technical people can't have it? Both are wrong.