4 ms·

So … what’s his qualification? He runs stickergiant.com, a site that sells stickers Uh. That sounds like exactly the sort of superficially boring thing that t

So … what’s his qualification? He runs stickergiant.com, a site that sells stickers Uh. That sounds like exactly the sort of superficially boring thing that turns out to be a reliable, profit-generating engine. Like the story about the guy who started a website selling bowling balls. Or a tax client of an ex, who was making millions annually selling hop-up engine parts. I thought everything else was pretty spot on, attacking this guy for his business and for telling a non-technical guy to stay non-technical is... weird. Do you really want some guy dicking around with the website's CSS when he's supposed to be interviewing people and finding a marketing consultant?

kenferry 15y ago
I do not think the point was that this isn't reliable or profit-generating. My take was that "reliable" and "profit-generating" are goals he finds sad and distressing. Perhaps the founder feels an incredible passion about stickers and thinks they'll make the world a better place, but it has the sound of an exercise in pure business.
andypants 15y ago
I think the argument was poorly worded, but I agree with his point, which is that his business is stickers, not software. Hence, his advice is invalid when applied to a software business. If you run a physical business, the only thing you need a programmer for is probably a website and an online ordering system. In that case, the founder doesn't need to learn programming, as that's not his business. But when you're a saas startup or something, software is your business, and a non-technical founder should at least try to understand some of it. Not necessarily enough to contribute to product development, but enough to... edit basic html? Start/restart the server? Quickly debug and figure out a small technical problem when demoing the product to potential customers in case the programmer isn't available?
- run4yourlives 15y ago
  I'd argue that software is never your business. People use your software to do something. Understanding that usage is your business. Perhaps it's semantics, but I think it bears repeating.
  - wnight 15y ago
    That might work for cookie-cutter, by-the-book managers later but it won't work for a founder, or anyone developing anything new. I've hired construction crews before knowing about the area, and again after working in it myself. It's a night and day difference. And not because they specifically lied or even stretched the truth but because they didn't tell me what I really needed to know to make good decisions. If all you want is "a blog" then you may be happy with what you get without more thought but if you want anything more complex than that you're going to need to understand significantly more about what you really want and how the constraints are going to impact it.

kenferry 15y ago

I do not think the point was that this isn't reliable or profit-generating. My take was that "reliable" and "profit-generating" are goals he finds sad and distressing. Perhaps the founder feels an incredible passion about stickers and thinks they'll make the world a better place, but it has the sound of an exercise in pure business.

andypants 15y ago

I think the argument was poorly worded, but I agree with his point, which is that his business is stickers, not software. Hence, his advice is invalid when applied to a software business. If you run a physical business, the only thing you need a programmer for is probably a website and an online ordering system. In that case, the founder doesn't need to learn programming, as that's not his business. But when you're a saas startup or something, software is your business, and a non-technical founder should at least try to understand some of it. Not necessarily enough to contribute to product development, but enough to... edit basic html? Start/restart the server? Quickly debug and figure out a small technical problem when demoing the product to potential customers in case the programmer isn't available?

run4yourlives 15y ago
I'd argue that software is never your business. People use your software to do something. Understanding that usage is your business. Perhaps it's semantics, but I think it bears repeating.
- wnight 15y ago
  That might work for cookie-cutter, by-the-book managers later but it won't work for a founder, or anyone developing anything new. I've hired construction crews before knowing about the area, and again after working in it myself. It's a night and day difference. And not because they specifically lied or even stretched the truth but because they didn't tell me what I really needed to know to make good decisions. If all you want is "a blog" then you may be happy with what you get without more thought but if you want anything more complex than that you're going to need to understand significantly more about what you really want and how the constraints are going to impact it.